Negotiations
by Let-The-Wookiee-Win
Summary: Following their private marriage, Jaina and Jagged Solo-Fel prepare to celebrate their union with a Jedi Blessing presided over by Luke Skywalker. But before the blessing, comes the belated Wedding Dinner and before the Dinner comes a negotiation, the outcome of which may affect Jacen Solo's future. And through it all there's Han and Leia, just being Han and Leia.
1. Chapter 1

_The thing about negotiations is that they require give and take from both sides. Without give and take, negotiation becomes intransigence.  
My stories, to a degree, follow on from one another so if you didn't read 'Today, Tomorrow and Always' I should probably let you know that Han and Leia's daughter Jaina is now married to Jagged Fel. After being assaulted on her bachelor night, Jaina and Jag are building not just a life together but also an intimate relationship. Don't worry, it's not nearly as deep as it sounds. I'm simply not that good a writer.  
At the same time Jaina's twin brother Jacen has been searching for his girlfriend who has been hidden by her overbearing father, one Prince Isolder who had previously courted Leia.  
This story opens with Leia meeting up with Isolder to negotiate a meeting between their estranged children._

xxxxxxxxxxxx

They stood just inside the restaurant doorway. Han bent forward, Leia straining upward.  
Their kiss as passionate as any they might previously have shared.  
One hand lightly against her cheek, the other at the back of her neck. His thumb traced the curve of her spine from neck to tailbone, his hand coming to rest cupping a buttock.  
The shift of one leg, a gentle tightening of his grip and she was made eminently aware of his firm resolve.  
Their kiss ended with Leia looking up at her husband and Han gazing deeply into his wife's eyes.

"I think he got the message from the kiss. There was no need to grope me as well." She chided.

"Just makin' sure there's no misunderstandings." He drawled. "Enjoy your lunch."

"You too." She blew him a kiss, turned and strode over to her table while Han took another, in a corner, with an unobstructed view of his wife and her guest.

"I'm so glad you could make it." Isolder greeted Leia. "Although I'm surprised he has room for _anything_ after almost eating your face off."

"That 'show' was for your benefit." She said, sitting opposite him.

"No? Really?" He scoffed.

A server droid rolled up to the table to take their order at exactly the same time as one rolled before Han, who made his order leaning to one side in order to maintain his view of proceedings.

"Nerf tenderloin please." Leia said, scrolling through the menu. "And a glass of water."

"Nerf?" Isolder laughed. "He's changed you."

Her practised diplomatic mask slipped momentarily and her eyes darted briefly toward Han while Isolder considered before acquiescing.

"Nerf tenderloin it is." He ordered. "But, we'll have a bottle of Champagne not water."

The droid rolled on his way.

"I wanted to thank you for making time..." Leia started.

"Making time? Am I to assume this conversation is business not pleasure?" He interrupted, holding up a hand for her silence. "Hapes has no appetite for any kind of an alliance."

"No, Isolder, I'm not here as a representative of the New Republic." She assured him.

"Well that's good." He relaxed.

"I wanted to discuss something of a more..." She hesitated, her eyes again briefly glancing at Han. "Personal...nature."

"I'm intrigued." Isolder relaxed further, smirking. "Does your concubine know you have a personal interest in me?"

"Han is my _husband_, not my concubine." Leia corrected an often repeated myth. "And I love him."

"He's a Neanderthal." Isolder snipped.

"Maybe. Occasionally." Leia let her eyes rest on Han as he studied them whilst sucking noodles from a bowl, before returning her attention to Isolder. "But he's _my_ Neanderthal!"

Isolder laughed. "So what service is it I can provide that you find lacking in your Neanderthal?"

A waiter droid rolled up to the booth, blocking Han's view. He stood in an attempt to see what was going on and to ensure his presence was remembered, a noodle-string hung from his mouth.

"Would Sir care to taste the vintage?" The droid asked.

"Just leave the bottle." Isolder told the droid.

"Madam, perhaps you..." The droid adjusted it's positioning toward Leia.

"I said just leave the bottle!" Isolder barked. "We know what Champagne tastes like. And we don't want to be disturbed."

The droid rolled away and Han sank back into his chair.

"That was rude Isolder." Leia said.

"It's just a droid." Isolder commented, popping the cork and pouring first himself and then Leia a glass.

Leia could have argued the point, but felt it would have been an exercise in futility.

Isolder appraised his drink. "Hardly the finest quality, but I suppose since I wasn't specific..." He let the sentence hang and Leia tried her best to maintain her smile. "So...I'll ask again, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

Now Leia took a drink, for courage if nothing else. "I hoped we might be able to come to an understanding. A truce of sorts."

"Are our peoples at war?" He teased.

"_You_ have been. With me. Ever since I turned down your proposal." Leia said.

"Oh Leia, you didn't so much 'turn down my proposal' as publicly humiliate me." He told her with a light laugh in his voice. "If you had quietly advised me that you intended tethering yourself to that buffoon, I could have equally quietly withdrawn my offer. But instead you chose him over me at an open session of the Senate. I not only had to return to Hapes without my prize but with my pride in tatters as well. And now you ask for a truce?"

"It was never my intention to cause you any embarrassment." Leia looked back, blinking her innocence.

"I see someone who has on any number of occasions openly flirted with my affections only to, just as openly, vehemently deny their existence." He countered.

"It was _never_ like that." She insisted.

"I remember a kiss." He said softly. "On the balcony of your apartment. Did I imagine it when you kissed me back."

"No. That wasn't your imagination." She blushed. "But it _was_ thirty years ago. I was young and I was flattered by your attention."

"I would consider that a compliment if the alternative wasn't quite so unappealing." Isolder raised his glass in toast toward Han who was still slurping noodles.

"I'm not here for myself." Leia pressed, hoping to appeal to any better nature he might have.

Isolder laughed, hard.

"Surely you aren't here on behalf of that oaf!" He pointed his glass at Han before emptying it's contents and refilling.

Before Leia had an opportunity to answer, a server droid rolled up and delivered their meals.

"So, this is nerf tenderloin." Isolder stared at his meat. "Would you feel more at home if I dispensed with the cutlery?"

Leia ignored the jibe and tucked a slice of nerf into her mouth with an appreciative sigh.

"Does he no longer tend to your womanly needs?" Isolder asked causing Leia to gasp and cough before swallowing her barely chewed nerf. She took a gulp of her Champagne in order to force the chunk of meat down.

"My marriage is perfectly sound." She rasped. "But thank you for your concern."

"Then you perhaps are looking for someone to dispose of his body." He suggested with a grin.

Leia chuckled and sipped Champagne, blushing as she looked away.

"Laughter? Is that permitted or should I take cover?" He teased her further.

"Perhaps I should ask Han to join us." Leia suggested. "If it'll make you behave."

Isolder held up his hands in submission. "I'll behave. I promise. Just don't call him over. It's bad enough having him analyse my every move from across the room."

He watched her slide her blade through the nerf, elegant fingers tapered to neatly manicured and polished nails. The only blemish was the gold band encircling the fourth finger of her left hand. The same annoying gold band that worthless, scumbag, smuggler had placed there three decades earlier.

"If it's not for Solo, then why are you here?" He asked, seriously.

"I hoped we might talk about Tenel Ka." Leia answered, quietly.

"Tenel? What about her?" He puzzled, attacking his lunch with renewed interest.

"Well, you may be aware that Jacen has been trying to find her more or less ever since you sent her into hiding." Leia reported.

"I was aware, yes. I merely wasn't interested." He refilled their glasses and drank.

"Well, I hoped you might consider relenting and allowing them to meet." She said.

"To what end?" He asked, spearing the last of his nerf.

"Well...So that they might renew their acquaintance. If that's what they want." She stated, thinking it must surely have been obvious.

"Not possible." He replied, drinking.

"Isolder." Leia sighed and laid her cutlery down. "I really thought we could move past all of this."

"All of this..." He held his hands wide. "Has nothing to do with it. The reason they can't 'renew their acquaintance', as you so quaintly describe their sexual relationship, is because Tenel Ka is to be married."

"Oh." Leia gaped. "I see."

"No, my dearest darling Leia, you don't." His smile was feeble and barely creased his lips. "Tenel Ka is marrying someone of her own class."

"You mean a Prince." Leia interjected.

"I mean, she is marrying a man of character and means as well as position." He explained.

"How very pleasing for you." Leia observed.

"He's also incredibly handsome and very capable." Isolder said proudly.

"Capable?" Leia queried.

"In providing her with an heir." He explained.

"The marriage hasn't been announced yet." Leia said, raising her chin in defiance.

"Not yet." Isolder toyed with his cutlery and emptied his glass for the second time. "We have been unable to come to an agreement regarding the exact wording of the announcement."

_Or more accurately the wording of the pre-nuptial._ Leia thought.

"The least you could do is allow her to tell Jacen herself." Leia pleaded. "Don't let him find out from the newsnet or a holonet report."

"Perhaps I should have it announced in the Senate." He goaded.

"Or you could just let them meet. Just once." She leaned forward again, her voice a little above a whisper. "Please."

"Will you come to Hapes for the Wedding?" He asked, his eyes flicked toward Han who had pushed his bowl aside and was now drinking from a beer bottle. "You and your 'plus one' naturally."

"We'll try." Leia blushed. "I can't make any promises. I have Jorj to consider too you understand."

"Ah. Of course. The retard." Isolder refilled his glass, draining the bottle.

"Jorj isn't a 'retard'. He has some behavioural immaturities." Leia countered and returned to her lunch with an anger to her slicing action, before dropping her cutlery with a clatter. "But at least he was born prematurely and with the added disadvantage of being oxygen starved. What's your excuse?"

Isolder laughed hard again.

"There's that feisty Princess I fell so madly in love with." He smiled and reached out to take her hand. "Is he still watching?"

"Either he's fiddling with his vibroblade or playing with himself." Leia replied. "He's very fond of that vibroblade."

"Probably wondering how deep he could bury it between my cold dead shoulder blades." Isolder mused.

She placed her chin in the palm of her free hand, elbow resting on the table.

"Not nearly as deep as I could bury my lightsaber." She smiled a warning.

"I'll consider your proposal and let you know." He rose, indicating the bill.

"When?" She asked, holding onto his hand.

He looked down at her hand and let his fingers caress hers before he broke their touch, then bent and whispered in her ear. "Soon."

Isolder's sidelong glance ensured Han, his lip curled in barely contained fury, was watching them then Isolder's lips pressed to Leia's cheek lingering considerably longer than was appropriate for an old companion.  
When he straightened Han was already on his feet and on a collision course.  
Isolder smiled to himself as he used his thumb-print to transfer funds for lunch.

"Solo." Isolder nodded to Han as he sauntered past him and to the exit.

"How'd it go with that slimy, no-good, son of Sith?" Han asked, glaring after Isolder.

Leia looked between the empty glass, the empty plate and, inwardly, to Isolder's empty heart.

"He enjoyed the nerf." Leia stated and drank the last of her Champagne.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Would you mind?" Leia asked Han over her shoulder, the straps of her dress in her hands.

"Sure. Up?" He asked huskily into her ear. "Or down?"

"After the last Wedding Dinner don't you think it might be a little disconcerting for Jagged's parents if we arrived naked?" She arched an eyebrow at him.

"Could be an ice breaker." He suggested with a small shrug. "Shimmy a little for me will ya Hon?"

Leia wriggled as Han pulled her straps onto her shoulders and eased the dress's clasps into place.

"It's not too tight is it?" She asked, eyeing Han in her mirror.

"Huh?" He queried, clearly not listening to her.

"The dress. It's not too tight is it?" She repeated.

"No. No, not too tight at all." He admired her shapely rear appreciatively.

"She said this might happen." Leia sighed, smoothing the dress over her stomach. "You don't know how lucky you are only having to cope with shaving once a day!"

"Huh?" Han questioned his wife's reflection, again obviously not listening.

Leia turned and planted an irritated hand on her hip, fingers drumming.

"Cilghal. The Jedi Healer." She prompted Han's memory. "She said I should expect to gain some weight during the menopause."

"Nah!" Han gave her his lopsided grin. "I just like the way you move when you shimmy."

He demonstrated the shimmy whilst side-stepping a succession of her playful slaps until the back of his knees hit the edge of the bed. Losing his balance, he grabbed her upper arms, dragging her down with him as he tumbled backwards.

"Now _this_..." He grinned. "Is more like it!"

The doorchime sounded and Han rolled his eyes.

"And _that_..." She grinned at him. "Will be our ride."

Clambering off him she dusted down her dress and shimmied for him once, just for good measure.

"Tease!" He hissed at her as he pushed to his feet and straightened a shoulder strap.

"You get the door and I'll get my wrap." She said, goosing his firm buttock as he headed from the bedroom to the door.

Han smiled to himself. And not just because his still sexy wife's soft fingers had just pinched his rear end. But also, since they had enrolled Jorj into a residential day school Leia had been able to get more rest and relaxation and little by little that playful side to her nature was returning.

"We'll just be a minute." Han beamed as the apartment door swished aside. The smile faded at the sight of Prince Isolder of the Hapes Consortium.

"I'm surprised you can manage even that much exertion, a man your age." Isolder greeted Han sarcastically. "Leia was saying as much only this afternoon at lunch."

"Yeah. She said you tried putting words into her mouth." Han grimaced.

"Had we been alone..." Isolder leaned forward and lowered his voice. "It might not have been words."

Isolder waggled his eyebrows and Han regretted Leia persuading him to remove his blaster and holster.

"All ready." Leia announced brightly, her wrap over her arm.

"Ah Honey..." Han stepped aside. "We have a visitor."

"Isolder? What are you doing here?" Leia asked.

"Why, I've come to speak to you of course." Isolder answered, not waiting to be invited inside.

"We...we were just going out." Leia stated, glancing at Han.

"Your office was able to give me your new address." Isolder strode around their living space taking in his surroundings. "I heard you'd cut your hours with the New Republic, but I had no idea times had become so hard for you. Had I known, I would have offered to purchase your husband's meagre luncheon as well as our own."

"Our times are perfectly fine thank you very much!" Han snarled, trailing Isolder with an angry curl to his lip.

Leia laid a practised hand on her husband's arm as he passed and shook her head gently. "Isolder. We really _are_ just going out." She repeated.

"And how lovely you look too." Isolder smiled at Leia. "Something from before your financial difficulties I presume."

"We have a family dinner." Han ground out from between clenched teeth.

"This'll only take a moment." Isolder said, his eyes drinking in Leia's slender form.

"I'm surprised you're emancipated enough for even that much." Han sneered.

It was the same level of practised diplomatic skill she'd used to calm Han that Leia now used to hide her amusement.

"Of course it would be quicker if we could talk...alone." Isolder looked pointedly at Han who sank into a sofa making it obvious he was not about to move. Isolder sighed inwardly and turned back to Leia.

"I was thinking about what you asked." Isolder said to her. "And I think we could maybe sort something out."

"You do?" Leia softened and took a step forward.

"Of course, they'd have to be supervised. By me." Isolder said, adding. "And there's to be no physical contact."

"No physical contact!" Han spat.

"Surely..." Leia started.

"_No_ physical contact." Isolder repeated. "It would be inappropriate in view of Tenel Ka's betrothal."

"What if he wears gloves." Han drawled. "That way he wouldn't leave fingerprints for your physicians to uncover."

"You may mock." Isolder turned now to Han. "But my daughter believes in the sanctity of her marriage vows and understands that chastity is necessary in order to preserve the purity of the family line."

"Isn't that a little like waving the starting flag after the podrace has begun?" Han goaded. "It's not like she's a virgin or anything."

"Han!" Leia mouthed, her annoyance clear from her frown.

"_No_ physical contact." Isolder repeated turning back to face Leia. "And under my total supervision. Take it or leave it."

"What if..." Leia started, thinking through the options. "Jaina and Jagged are having a Jedi Blessing in two days time. Would there be time for Teneniel and Tenel Ka to join you here on Coruscant to attend the ceremony?"

"Now just a minute!" Han blurted.

"That way, Tenel Ka and Jacen would be able to see one another while being supervised by a whole host of guests." Leia continued. "You'd have nothing to worry about, since they could hardly slip away from the Reception unnoticed."

"Two days time you say." Isolder considered before answering. "I shall consider your invitation and inform you of my decision."

He offered her a bow and headed for the exit.

"Isolder." Leia called after him. "Thank you."

He turned to regard her.

"Don't thank me yet. I haven't agreed we'll attend." He smirked. A sly glance at Han silently fuming making up his mind for him. "But you know, it would be unfortunate to miss such an opportunity. Tenel Ka and I would be delighted to come."

Leia beamed. "It's at the Botanical Gardens. We'll be sure to message you all the details, won't we Han?"

"Teneniel not joining you?" Han asked, clearly annoyed. "Shouldn't she act as some kind of chaperone to the 'betrothed'?"

Leia bristled at her husband's tone.

"Teneniel doesn't travel well any more." Isolder answered, indignantly.

"But there'll be time?" Leia queried. "Time enough to get Tenel Ka to Coruscant?"

"Get her here?" Isolder puzzled. "That'll be no problem at all. She's been on Coruscant all along."

He swept from the apartment, leaving Leia feeling cold.

"You know something." Han rose and moved to Leia's side. "I really hate that guy! All he does...all he's _ever_ done...is cause trouble."

Leia stood, looking at the closed door, seeming not to hear her husband beside her.

"Hey!" Han shook her arm gently. "You all right? Because if he's upset you..."

"No. He's not upset me. It's just...all the searching Jacen's done. All the leads you and he have followed up, and all the time she was here on Coruscant?" Leia looked up at Han, her expression one of sadness. "You remember after you rescued me from the Death Star? You remember asking if the Stormtroopers had hurt me?"

"I remember." He nodded.

He did. Having once served in the Imperial Navy Han had a good enough idea how badly the Stormtroopers might have mistreated Leia, had she not been the prisoner of Lord Darth Vader. He also knew that when the opportunity had arisen, they had abused her in an admittedly comparatively mild way but abused her all the same.

"You remember me saying after they'd finished searching me how dirty I felt?" Leia nodded toward the now closed door. "That's how Isolder makes me feel."

Han bent down and lovingly kissed the top of her head.

"Come on Princess." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Let's go find our 'cab before Jaina wonders where we're at."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

When Han and Leia arrived at the quarters allocated to the recently married Fels, they were greeted by a desperately despondent Jagged.

"Thank the Stars you're here!" He hastened them inside, checking the corridor for eavesdroppers before securing the door.

"What's wrong?" Leia asked. A scream from the direction of the kitchen startled them.

"That'll be dinner. Jaina's in meltdown." He reported, then called to her. "Jaina. Your parents are here."

Jaina lumbered in from the kitchen, her cheeks streaked with tears.

"Oh Sweetheart!" Leia hurried to her daughter's side. "What's happened?"

"I was late back from the stupid market, then I put my stupid heel through my best dress. I haven't had time to shower and now I won't have time to braid my hair. And the final insult..." Jaina's lip started to tremble. "I burned the nerf!"

"Okay." Leia curled an arm around Jaina's waist. "You have some thread don't you?"

"I guess. Somewhere." Jaina replied.

"So, while you take a shower I'll repair your dress." Leia smiled. "And then, once you're ready, I'll braid your hair while your father sorts out the dinner."

"Yeah. Sure." Han poked his head through the doorway to the kitchen and spied a smoking roast nerf. His stomach lurched. "Might take a little creative carving but my sauce should cover the crispy bits. You brought the sauce, didn't you Hon?"

"The Han-Solo-Special-Homemade-Sauce you reminded me thirty-six times not to forget?" She asked.

"You forgot the sauce, didn't you?" His shoulders slumped.

"It's in my bag. Along with that good bottle of wine you reminded me twenty-something times not to forget also."

"What would I do without you?" Jaina asked, smiling.

"You'd wither and die." Leia teased, stroking a hand over her daughter's tresses. "Or at least have to eat take out in a flightsuit with your hair in a tangle."

Leia winked at Jaina and the two went off to the bedroom.

"You think sauce is going to fix that?" Jag asked, looking dubiously at the roast.

"That?" Han nodded at the meat. "Not a chance. But while Jaina takes her shower and Leia mends her dress, you're gonna go down to a little place I know on 33rd. You're gonna ask for Ve'ancy and he's gonna get you a prime nerf cut at cost. Remember that, _at_ _cost_, 'cos he's gonna try to sell it at market price. And you're gonna tell Ve'ancy that _Han_ _Solo_ says he's gonna sell it to you at cost or Mrs Ve'ancy is gonna find out about that cute little lady Bothan he's been banging for the past year and a half."

"Wouldn't it be better if you went?" Jag asked, concerned.

"I gotta do the sauce!" Han frowned as though it should have been obvious. "There's credits in Leia's bag. Don't spend 'em all, she'll birth a Bantha! Meanwhile, I'll find somewhere to conceal these cremated remains so my daughter doesn't know about our little deception."

While Jag headed off to buy a new side of nerf, Han wrapped and disposed of the spoiled joint in a neighbours trash and while Jaina enjoyed a real water shower and towel dry, Leia stitched the tiny rip to her daughter's dress.  
When Jag returned, Han had set his sauce to warm and his wine to chill.

"Doesn't nerf take like hours to cook?" Jag asked concerned.

"I know a few tricks." Han grinned lopsidedly and tossed the fresh meat into a pan, flash-frying it before transferring it to a roasting pan.

"What should I do?" Jag asked, nervously.

"Two things." Han held up two fingers at him. "One, go prepare the table. Your parents will be here shortly. And two, stay outta my kitchen!"

Han leaned against a worktop in the couple's small kitchen. He'd have been happier with a bottle of beer to hug but without it he leaned with one ankle crossed over the other and his arms folded, watching Jag lay the small dinner table.  
And he couldn't help remembering the first time he'd prepared Leia's table at her apartment. He'd noticed her fingers toy with some cutlery that was obviously in the wrong place. She'd left it where it was, smiling and saying the table was lovely not because it was, but because _he_ had laid it for her. And in Jag and Jaina, he saw him and Leia, twenty-too-many-years ago to remember.  
_These_ _moments are getting all too frequent_. He thought.  
These reminiscences of times past. Along with the realisation that they will never come again.  
Han shook himself awake and moved off to put some of his culinary skills...and tricks...to use.  
Meanwhile, Jaina had slipped on her repaired dress and was seated at her vanity mirror.

"Soft and wavy or tight and authoritative?" Leia asked to Jaina's reflection.

"Tight I think. It'll be a contrast to how I want it done for the Blessing." Jaina smiled.

"You'll have to sit still if you want it tight." Leia said, starting to brush her daughter's thick locks.

"I can do still." Jaina smiled, adding. "If I really have to."

"Are you looking forward to the Blessing Ceremony?" Leia asked, parting a section of hair.

"Very much." Jaina replied, looking up at her mother through the mirror. "Mom. Can I ask you something?"

"Of course. Always." Leia confirmed.

"After...after Dad...you know..." Jaina struggled. "Was it hard for you two to...you know...be, well, intimate again?"

"Harder for me than your father." Leia answered honestly. "Of course, it's mostly just a chemical reaction for men. A bit like rubbing two sticks together. For women, not all women obviously, but on the whole women need to feel a sense of belonging I think. And love. Are you and Jag able to...you know...be intimate yet?"

"We cuddle." Jaina said. "All the time. And I feel Jag wants to take it further but he's afraid he'll go too far and end up frightening me off."

"Only you will know when you're ready Honey." Leia finished securing one braid to Jaina's head.

"The thing is..." Jaina chewed her lip. "I think I am. I think I have been for a while now. And I'm starting to think it's Jag who isn't ready."

"Jaina, can I ask _you_ something?" Leia asked. "Why are you talking to me about this and not Jag?"

"I guess I just wanted a female perspective." Jaina shrugged. "You know, from someone who knows what it's like."

"I can tell you how it was for me if that's what you want." Leia offered, starting Jaina's second braid. "But that doesn't mean it'll be the same for you. Your father and I already had an intimate relationship, all we had to do was re-establish our connection. But for you and Jag, you are going to have to work things out for yourselves. To start with, I suggest you talk to one another. Find out what it is that you want. No timescales. No, we need to make love now because the in-laws are coming over for dinner and you know they'll be asking about when we plan on starting a family."

Jaina laughed.

"Just you and Jagged." Leia continued. "Building your future together."

She finished the braid and lifted an eyebrow in query.

"You know something." Jaina swivelled and rose to wrap an arm around her mother's waist. "You guys are just the best!"

"Remember that when you're picking out our burial plots." Leia returned the gesture curling her arm around Jaina's waist. "I want a shady spot by a tree with your father by my side."

"Oh!" Jaina bit her lip. "Dad said he wants to be fired out of the quad canon on the Falcon."

"Shady tree." Leia insisted. "Remember, mother knows best."

The two returned to the main quarters just as the door chimed.

"Great!" Jaina mumbled beneath her breath.

"Hey, that's my parents when you're done grumbling." Jag winked his understanding, palmed the door open and beamed. "Mom! Dad!"

"Jagged, darling!" Syal Fel exclaimed dramatically and embraced her son. "You've lost weight."

"No Mom, I haven't." Jag sighed and indicated they should make their way into the quarters.

"This is...nice." Syal declared, her smile as false as any Leia had seen.

"It's only temporary." Jaina assured her. "We viewed an apartment only yesterday."

"Yeah. It was smaller than this." Jag chuckled.

"Smaller?" Syal looked concerned. "Is that possible?"

"It's just the two of them Syal." Soontir chided. "They don't need a mansion. Han, Leia, so good to see you both again."

Soontir extended his hand which Han, then Leia, shook firmly.

"Drinks?" Jaina asked.

"We brought Champagne." Syal glared at Soontir. "You remembered the Champagne didn't you?"

"Of course dear." Soontir rolled his eyes and handed a double-bottle gift box to Jag.

"You didn't have to do that." Jag said, almost apologetically.

"Nonsense. It was nothing." Syal waved her hand. "It's not as though you could afford it on what you two earn."

"I meant that the Solo's were kind enough to bring us wine..." Jag started.

"Oh well if you'd prefer to drink _their_ wine rather than _our_ Champagne!" Syal clutched at her wounded heart.

"I'll get the ice bucket." Jaina smiled and glared at Jag as she hurried to the kitchen.

Jag hesitated a moment before following her. "I'm sorry Honey. You know what my mother's like."

"So help me, if she starts anything..." Jaina hissed.

"She won't. I promise." Jag placated.

Jaina yanked the ice bucket from it's cupboard and shoved it roughly into Jag's chest.  
He suppressed the urge to groan, releasing it only after diving into the deep refrigeration unit for a bag of ice and dumping half into the bucket.  
When he returned to the living area, the room was uncannily quiet.

"How long before we can eat?" Jag spoke from the corner of his mouth at Han.

"Half hour at best." Han replied, choosing a spot for the ice bucket and adding a champagne bottle.

"I thought you said you knew a few tricks." Jag hissed.

"I _do_. That's why it's only a half hour!" Han growled.

"So..." Han grinned at the Fels. "How'd you like your nerf?"

"We're trying to stay away from red meat." Syal responded.

"But you'll make an exception tonight as it's a special occasion." Jaina said, her smile almost as false as Syal's had been.

"Special...Jaina! You're not!" Syal sat forward on the sofa. "Jagged, is this true?"

Jag looked between his mother and Jaina. "No. No, of course not. Jaina just meant with this being our Wedding Supper."

"Oh. I see." Syal sat back, settling her gaze on Jaina. "Still deciding whether or not you're gay are you dear?"

With Jaina's eyes flashing fire, Jag stepped in and insisted they all take a seat at the dining table, then tugged Jaina into the kitchen. "She's on medication!" He explained. "They're still getting the dosage right."

"She'll need a bacta tank if she keeps that up!" Jaina hissed angrily.

"She speaks without thinking." He apologised. "Comes from being an actress. Without a script, she's lost for words."

"She'll lose a lot more than just the power of speech if you don't see to it that she quits with all the sniping!" She reminded him, jabbing him in the chest for good measure. "And so will you!"

"Your mother wonders if she might have some water." Leia asked, entering the kitchen. "Spring water. She was very specific."

"Sure." Jaina grunted and filled a glass from the tap. "If she asks, it 'sprang' from the faucet. She'll think it's an obscure part of Coruscant."

"Now who's sniping?" Jag smirked, taking the water through to his mother.

"I thought you and Syal got on well." Leia observed.

"That was before I jilted her son at the alter." Jaina rolled her eyes. "Now she treats me as though I'm teetering on the edge between sexualities."

"What's wrong with this picture?" Han strode into the kitchen.

"Syal's not berating me?" Jaina set her jaw in the same way her mother would.

"That too." Han agreed. "But I was actually referring to two females being in my kitchen."

"Technically it's _my_ kitchen." Jaina corrected. "However, since you're hopefully about to save my Wedding Dinner from complete ruin, I'll let the comment pass."

Han looked from Leia to Jaina until Leia finally asked. "What?"

Han indicated they should leave with a flick of his hands.  
At the dinner table Syal smiled unconvincingly as Jaina took her seat at the far end of the table and Leia took hers opposite Syal.

"Your brother not able to come this evening Jaina?" Soontir asked.

"Jorj? No, Mom and Dad got him enrolled in a residential school." Jaina smiled. "Plus, we only got six chairs."

"Yes." Syal admired the table and chairs. "And all but two of them match."

Jaina glared and Soontir covered Syal's hand with his.

"Syal. Please." Soontir appealed.

"I'm simply stating a fact. The chairs don't all match." Syal said innocently.

Soontir looked apologetically between Jaina and Leia. "A residential school?"

"He comes home at weekends." Leia explained. "This is his fourth, no fifth month. Jorj's loving it and seems to be improving all the time."

"That's good news." Soontir smiled.

"Yes." Syal added. "It means we won't need to hide the good glassware when you all come for dinner."

Soontir's sigh was audible.

"In fact." Leia felt compelled to point out. "Jorj never peed into a glass before. Or since for that matter."

"It's not something he learned from his father then?" Syal asked smugly.

"Mother!" Jag was starting to lose his patience.

"No Syal." Leia corrected. "Jorj was born prematurely and his brain was starved of oxygen but after a considerable fight, he was allowed home. We were warned he might not walk or talk, that his life experiences most probably would be limited. But he, with the love and support of his entire family, is striving to prove all those experts wrong."

"Here, here." Jaina agreed with a big smile.

"Well..." Syal added. "You were a little...old...to have been having another child."

Leia's eyes blazed like a supernova and she opened her mouth to speak, interrupted by Han's entrance.

"Here you go Sweetheart." Han placed a plate before Syal. "Get your chops round that and tell me it's not the best thing you've ever had in your mouth."

Jag contained his laughter behind a hand and Jaina too stifled a giggle.  
Dinner was eaten mostly in silence, except for the sounds of appreciation from Jaina, Leia, Jag and even Soontir who was very verbal in his approval of the nerf.


	2. Chapter 2

As their apartment door closed and secured behind them Leia sighed, flopped onto a sofa and kicked her shoes off, leaving them unceremoniously where they fell.

"I know we promised Jaina we'd hold our tongues tonight, but when Syal suggested you were too old to have Jorj..." Han shook his head and chuckled to himself as he sat beside her. "I thought you were going to Force-choke her!"

"Don't think I wasn't tempted!" Leia hissed. "And not just when she called me 'old'."

Han hid a laugh behind a yawn.

"Am I boring you?" She asked, one eyebrow arched.

"You..." He stretched an arm along the back of the sofa, fingers finding and removing a pin from her hair. "Could never be boring."

Her braid uncoiled over her shoulder, Han's hand tracing where it fell.

"I love your hair." He drawled.

Leia smiled, a soft smile that tilted her lips upward and creased the corners of her eyes.

"And that smile..." He sighed. "So bewitching."

"Bewitching?" She purred.

"Bewitched me, that's for sure." He gazed at her, his eyes holding hers.

"Are you flirting with me Captain Solo?" She asked, seductively. "Because I should tell you, I'm feeling very susceptible tonight."

"Really?" Han grinned lopsidedly. "Darn. And I was hoping to catch a smashball game."

"Well if you'd rather watch a bunch of sweaty men..." Leia started, pushing to her feet.

Han reached for her wrist, pulling her back onto his lap.

"I never said I couldn't be persuaded otherwise." He teased, an arm snaking around her waist.

"You..." She traced the line of the scar on his chin with a neat fingernail. "You want to take this into the bedroom?"

Han glanced around, considering.

"We have the place to ourselves." He noted. "What say we start in here and see where it takes us?"

His lips sought and found the spot on her neck he knew would make her eyes flutter and her breath stutter.  
The hand at her waist tightened as she adjusted her position more comfortably across him, his other hand rode the inside of her calf to her knee and higher to caress the soft flesh of her thigh.

"I'm wearing skimpies." Leia warned him.

Han's lips stopped moving and he leaned back to regard her. "Skimpies? Seriously?"

Skimpies had been issued throughout the Rebel Alliance and comprised of mid-thigh shorts for all and a camisole with suitable support for the female members. They performed their duty admirably and were, in Han's opinion one of the most sexless items of clothing ever created.

"I like them." She shrugged apologetically.

"Skimpies!" He repeated and shook his head disbelievingly but couldn't stop the smile from crimping the corners of his mouth.

"What?" Leia demanded.

"I was just wondering..." He said, chuckling. "Were you wearing those at the Medal Ceremony on Yavin?"

"Not this exact pair. But I very probably did wear skimpies to that ceremony, yes." She replied. "Why, what were you wearing?"

"Same as I'm wearing now, just a wink and a smile." He winked and grinned at her, lopsidedly.

"Did you concern yourself with my underwear then also?" She queried, narrowing her eyes at him.

"My _primary_ concern was the reward." He answered. "And whether or not you were going to ask for it back."

"We didn't." She observed.

"No." He sighed. "Of course, it's not like you actually gave me the _whole_ reward anyway."

"Excuse me!" She exclaimed. "Apart from the credits, which you knew full well the Alliance could scarcely afford, I gave you my personal marker. That's my _personal_ marker!"

"Yeah..." Han dug a hand in first one pocket, then the other before pulling out the marker. "You think this is still good for anything?"

"You still have that?" She asked, grinning.

"Carry it with me everywhere." He shoved the marker back in his pocket. "Never know when I might need a little 'Royal' leverage."

Leia narrowed her eyes at him again. "And that's the only reason?"

"Sure. I mean, you don't think it holds any kind of sentimental attachment for me do you?" He suggested.

"You know something." She shook her head at him. "With you, I'm never certain of anything."

She climbed off his lap, looking down at him with hooded eyes. "I mean...not five minutes ago I thought we were going to be making love...but now..."

She let the words trail as she sauntered toward the bedroom.  
Han inhaled deeply, his eyes following her slow stroll to the archway where she paused and looked back at him over her shoulder.

"Coming flyboy?" She cooed and disappeared through the arch.

Han paused for only a heartbeat then leapt to his feet, a huge grin on his face and every intention of joining her.  
Until the intercom sounded.  
Han's long stride ceased and he groaned.  
Leia appeared again in the archway, her shorts dangling from one slender finger.

"You're not going to get that are you?" She asked.

He crossed quickly to her, snatched the shorts from her hand and flung them into the bedroom behind her.

"You hold that thought while I send them on their way." He grinned back down at her and lightly slapped her backside before heading to the door.

"Yeah?" He drawled into the intercom.

"Captain Han Solo?" A soft female voice asked.

"Who's asking?" He intoned.

"My name is Karoesh, Junia Karoesh. Am I addressing Han Solo?" The voice asked.

"Does he owe you money?" Han queried.

"I left a number of messages with his service Sir." She told Han. "I must speak with Captain Solo. Urgently."

"What's so urgent it can't wait 'til morning?" Han growled.

"If I might be permitted entry." She persisted.

Han snapped off the audio and looked over at Leia who noted that their personal comm was flashing. "There _are_ six messages recorded."

Han sighed. "Entry confirmed. Come on up." He told Junia Karoesh and smiled sadly at Leia.

"I'll brew some caf." She offered with a loving smile and made her way to the kitchen.

When the doorchime sounded, Han reluctantly palmed the door open.

"Captain Solo? Han Solo?" Junia Karoesh asked.

"In the flesh." Han replied and invited her into the apartment.

"I apologise for the hour Captain, I really do." She said with sincerity. "However, it was imperative that I speak with you sooner rather than later."

"My wife and I have been out, that's why we didn't get your messages." He explained offering her a seat. "What can I do for you Miss...Mrs...Karoesh?"

"Junia." She replied with a bright smile and a query to her forehead. "Your wife is here?"

"I thought you might like some caf." Leia said, carrying in a tray, cups and caf pot.

"What a beautiful dress." Junia commented. "Were you out somewhere nice?"

"Dinner with our daughter." Leia started, noting Han's sour expression. "Long story though."

Leia sat beside Han as she poured Junia a cup of caf along with one for Han and then herself.

"I was rather hoping Captain..." Junia started, accepting the cup. "That we might be able to talk alone."

Leia exchanged a look with Han before starting to rise.

"Whatever it is, it's fine right here in front of my wife." Han pressed a hand to Leia's arm staying her ascent.

Junia shifted uncomfortably, then produced a recording device from her shoulder case.

"Look Sweetheart." Han said, spying the recorder. "It's been a while since either my wife or I were in the public eye. We're living a quiet, happy, family life now and we're not real anxious to change that. So if you're here for an interview then I'm sorry, but you've had a wasted journey."

"Interview?" She followed his gaze to the recorder and smiled. "Oh, no. I'm the one who should apologise, I'm not here for an interview."

She removed a datapad and returned the recorder to her case.

"Then what do you want?" Han asked, puzzled.

"I'm here regarding a rather..delicate..matter." Junia replied, clearing her throat.

"O-kay." Han elongated the word, briefly glancing at Leia before his attention returned to their visitor.

"I have received instructions from my client..." Junia started.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Han held up a hand. "Instructions? You a legal?"

"I am a legal professional, yes." Junia answered.

"Do we..." Leia looked nervously at Han. "Do we need some legal representation also?"

"I don't believe that to be necessary." Junia advised. "Captain, are you acquainted with a Rosa Bur?"

Han frowned, thinking. "Not that I recall." He replied after some consideration.

"She claims you met in the Outer Rim Territories." Junia continued.

"You wanna narrow that down a little Honey? Only it's a big Galaxy and the Outer Rim Territories cover a good portion of it." Han suggested.

Junia consulted her datapad. "Cotellier? Does that sound familiar to you?"

"Cotellier's at the far end of the Sanrafsix Corridor." Han said. "It's hot. Dry. Desert landscape. That's about all I know really."

"You mined Nova Crystals there." Junia prompted. "Seven, eight years ago?"

"Mined?" Han queried with a laugh. "I might have hauled some crystals I guess, but I don't think I ever mined 'em."

"Eight years ago." Leia mused quietly. "That would have been around the time of Sernpidal."

"Sernpidal?" Junia queried.

Han swallowed back the memory. "I...I lost someone important to me at Sernpidal. Someone _very_ important to me."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Junia sounded sympathetic.

"Thanks." Han sounded in-genuine. "But what's this got to do with this Rosa Somebody."

"Rosa Bur." Junia returned to her datapad. "The information I have is that she met you on Cottelier and that you and she shared a common bond."

"A what?" Han asked.

"You became...quite close." Junia elaborated without looking up.

Leia felt something turn cold inside.

"Close?" Han shook his head. "Look lady, if this is some kind of hustle..."

"Let her speak Han." Leia said flatly. "Go on."

"A relationship developed." Junia said bluntly. "A deep, intense relationship."

"Sweetheart, I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know anyone called Rosa Bur and, to the best of my knowledge, I aint never even been to Cottelier!"

Junia returned to the datapad and tapped for more information.

"Well Captain, she knew you." Junia read. "You were born on Corellia and indentured to a Garris Shrike. You escaped him and entered the Imperial Academy at Carida where your service was terminated. Though not by yourself apparently."

"All of this is readily available through any Holonet facility." Han interrupted. "I think we're done here."

He rose, his hands on his hips waiting for Junia Karoesh to rise also.

"Captain. Rosa Bur died three weeks ago." She said, looking up at him.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He echoed her words.

"My instructions..." She lifted the datapad. "Relate to her legacy."

"Legacy. What she do, leave me her collection of mounted Stinger Moths?" Han asked sarcastically.

"Han!" Leia glared up at her husband who sank back onto the sofa beside her.

"So." He said, calmly. "This legacy. If it's not her mounted Stinger Moth collection, what is it?"

"Her son." Junia replied.

"Excuse me?" Han asked astonished.

Junia scrolled through the datapad, before turning it to Han. "More precisely, _your_ son. Jarik, Jarik Solo."

Han accepted the datapad displaying a holo of a brunette with a child of about six.

"My..." Han looked up at Junia. "Wait. You're trying to tell me this is _my_ son?"

Han pointed at the boy in the holo as Leia eased the datapad from his hand.

"Those are my instructions, yes." Junia replied.

"That's not possible!" Han stated firmly.

Leia stared at the picture.  
Rosa was a beautiful woman, for sure, dark hair, dark eyes, with a deep intensity in the smile radiating up at her.  
_Had_ _been _a beautiful woman, Leia corrected herself, Rosa Bur was dead.

"There's documentary evidence to support..." Junia started.

"I don't care if you were holding her hand in the labour ward." Han growled. "I am _not_ that kid's father!"

Leia studied the face of the boy beside the beautiful, dark haired woman.  
Soft hazel eyes, a half-smile, dark tousled hair.  
It was like looking at an older Jorj. Or a younger Jacen.  
She placed the datapad down and stepped over to the window, gazing out at Coruscant's twinkling night time lights.

"I realise this must be a shock." Junia was saying.

Leia wasn't really listening.  
Nor was she really listening when Han refused to believe what he was being told or when he refused to discuss it further.  
Leia was thinking back eight years to Chewbacca's death.  
Han himself would agree he lost himself for a while in the aftermath. And she had lost touch with him for close to a year.  
Was it so inconceivable that during that period Han might have found comfort in the arms of another.

"Leia?" Han spoke her name for what was quite obviously more than the first time.

"Perhaps if you would leave your documents for us to read overnight." Leia suggested calmly, turning back to the room.

"Of course." Junia laid several documents alongside the datapad. Leaving her contact details, she then politely excused herself and left.

After she had gone Leia found herself looking from the flimsies up into her husband's eyes.  
His face wore a multitude of expressions. Not the least of which was sorrow.

"I swear to you Leia, that is _not_ my child." He insisted.

"It's late." She whispered. "We should talk in the morning."

She started toward the bedroom, evading the hand he extended to try to stay her path.  
He let her go. Reluctantly. Watching her all the way into the bedroom.  
He glanced at the datapad. At the holo smiling up at him.  
The more he looked, the woman did perhaps seem vaguely familiar. But surely, even in the haze that surrounded his memories post Sernpidal he'd have recalled a relationship. Even a clandestine one. _Especially_ a clandestine one. And he had no recollection of actually being with this woman in either a platonic or intimate way.  
He took their used crockery through to the kitchen, placing it all in the cleansing unit, then plumped every living room cushion at least twice more than they needed plumping before finally following his wife into the bedroom.  
Leia was already in bed, as he had known she would be, half turned to her side. Eyes closed, but he could tell from her position she was awake.  
_Hardly_ _surprising_. _Under_ _the_ _circumstances!_ He thought.  
He took longer than was really necessary in the 'fresher and when he re-entered the bedroom he noted Leia had turned further away from him.  
Sighing inwardly, he crossed to their bed and hesitatingly climbed in. Lying on his side facing her, he watched her through the dim bedroom light.

"Leia? You asleep?" He spoke to her softly, knowing she was awake. "Ley? Sweetheart?"

Han reached tentatively toward her, then withdrew his hand and rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.

"He's not my son. He's not."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Neither got much sleep.  
Leia remained motionless, on her side, facing away from Han.  
Han remained on his back, gazing with unseeing eyes up at the ceiling.  
And though neither would admit it to the other, it reminded them of the early days of their reconciliation. After Leia had been released from the Medical Centre into Han's care and while they were still finding their way with one another. Before they had learned to be together again.  
At some point though Han had drifted off, waking with a start and finding the bed beside him both empty and cold.  
He found Leia at the dining table, laid for breakfast, reading Junia Karoesh's documentation.

"Jury still out, or is the verdict in already?" His crooked smile did little to make her look on him more favourably. "Sentenced too, huh? Life or the death penalty?"

"She kept a diary." Leia said, adding for emphasis. "Rosa Bur."

Han chose a seat opposite, his back to the window.  
When she looked up, the morning light showed just how pale and wan she appeared.

"She describes your meeting, by chance, in a cantina on Cottelier." Leia flicked through the copied flimsies. "You stepped in when a group of miners were attempting to take liberties with her."

"Always the hero." He quipped.

She smiled through pursed lips and returned her attention to her reading material. "You offered her passage off World, which she accepted and you took her to Tralus."

"Tralus?" Han frowned. "Why would I even _consider_ going to Tralus?"

"For it's mining facilities perhaps?" Leia suggested. "It was on Tralus that you formed your 'common bond', as Junia Karoesh described it."

Han shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "I have no memory of a Rosa Bur. I can't remember going to Cottelier and I sure as heck don't recall stopping by Tralus. I'll admit most of my memories from that time are kinda hazy but I can't help thinking if I'd gotten _that_ involved with someone, I'd remember!"

"I can't help thinking if you were going to get that 'involved' with someone you'd have remembered you'd got a wife and family at home!" She stated, returning to the flimsie before her. "Rosa stayed with you on your yacht, as she calls it, for three months before you decided it was time to move on. You seemed, in her words, 'nervous of any commitment' so she was the one who chose to end the relationship. It was a month later that she discovered she was pregnant by which time it proved impossible to track your whereabouts."

"Yacht?" Han laughed. "I've heard the Falcon called a lotta things, but never a yacht!"

"It is a YT. Perhaps Rosa was being 'poetic'." Leia smiled again, amused.

"_She_. Not it." Han corrected and pointed at the flimsie in her hand. "But that, right there, that should tell you this Rosa woman was either deluded or lying."

"She describes you." Leia thrust a flimsie in his direction. "In optimistically graphic detail."

Han read the description in the diary entry.  
Physically accurate, he had to agree, if a little overly romantic in parts.  
Particularly the part where their relationship deepened into intimacy.

"Doesn't mean a thing." Han slid the flimsie back over to Leia. "She could just as easily gotten my description from the Holonet. I mean, there are no actual holos of the two of us together in all of this stuff is there?"

"And she just dreamt up the nights on the Falcon I suppose." She countered, collecting the flimsies together. "There is, of course, a rather obvious solution to all of this."

"Yeah." Han sighed. "That already occurred to me too."

"It's a simple enough procedure. Easier even than when Luke and I were tested."

"If it'll set your mind at ease..." He offered.

"It has nothing to do with setting my mind at ease." She insisted. "And everything to do with you taking responsibility for your actions."

"You believe her. Don't you?" Han asked, studying Leia.

Her mouth formed the word "no", but before she spoke she took a breath.

"Eight years ago Han." She mused. "We were both very different people back then. I was consumed by my work and you, you were consumed by your grief."

"Doesn't mean I went looking for trouble." Han drawled.

"You were looking for trouble on every street corner." She corrected him. "Doesn't mean you didn't find it in the arms of a beautiful woman rather than at the end of vibrobade."

Han sat back in his chair and wiped a hand across his face.

"Plus." Leia plucked a morning pastry, tore a sliver and nibbled a tiny piece. "There's a small boy to consider."

"Yeah." Han nodded. "That occurred to me too."

Leia was about to say more when her personal comm indicated an incoming call.

"Solo." She intoned.

"Hey Leia. Thought I'd check in so you didn't worry." Luke's voice was a surprise.

"Luke?" Leia seemed genuinely brighter. "You're here already?"

"Not groundside." Luke reported. "Waiting on Control to clear us for landing. Shouldn't be long now though and I wondered if you'd like to buy a dirt-poor Tatooine farm boy some breakfast?"

"Kriff!" Leia burted. "Luke I have to go."

"Oh. Okay. I'll contact you when..." Luke's voice was cut off by Leia.

"I'm supposed to be meeting Jaina for breakfast" Leia pushed to her feet. "Call her for me, tell her...tell her I overslept but I'll be there just as soon as I can."

"Sure." Han answered. "Um...Ley..."

She was at the bedroom archway when she turned, knowing what he was going to ask her. "Don't worry. I wasn't planning on discussing any of this with Jaina." She added, without intending to wound. "You'll still be the same hero you've always been in her eyes."

While Leia readied herself, Han relayed her message through to Jaina then cleared away the barely touched breakfast things. And then, after Leia had left to meet Jaina, he called Jacen with a request.

"The Falcon logs?" Jacen asked. "You want me to go back over eight years and see where we went to?"

"I just want you to check for Cottelier and Tralus." Han requested.

"Okay." Jacen's tone of voice indicated it was anything but 'okay'.

"This is important Jacen." Han reiterated.

"I get it Dad. It's important." Jacen sighed. "Call you as soon as I get anything. Solo out."

"There's something else Jace..." Han started, but Jacen was gone.

Han sat back sadly and started reading through Rosa Bur's history in an attempt to make sense of things.

Leia, meanwhile, sat waiting for Jaina to appear from the dressing room. Her eyes were fixed on a spot on the floor when her daughter stepped into the waiting room. It took Jaina three attempts to get her mother's attention.

"Well?" Jaina beamed. "What do you think?"

Leia admired her daughter and gave her verdict with a cheery smile. "You look beautiful. Truly beautiful."

And she did. Beneath full length, sleeveless, white Jedi robes she wore a white long sleeved floor length dress with just enough shimmer to show it was for something special, not just a Jedi workout.

"You think Dad will like it?" Jaina asked, smoothing her outfits outline.

"He will, as he always has, find you utterly enchanting." Leia answered honestly, with her heart trembling.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Jaina queried.

"Nothing Sweetheart. Nothing at all." Leia hid her lie behind her smile.

Jaina accepted the answer without conviction before changing back into her casual clothing. Leia gathered her thoughts and controlled her emotions for when Jaina returned, carrying her outfit in a neatly wrapped package.  
They made their way to their planned breakfast in a lovely cafe in New Republic City. A private booth had been reserved for them on a sunny terrace and their breakfast was brought to them on silver trays and cake stands. There were morning pastries, pancakes, sweet bites, hot scones and fresh fruit served alongside caf, stim tea, spring water and Champagne.

"Wow!" Jaina's eyes sparkled. "This is incredible. Thank you Mom. Thank you so much."

Leia could feel Jaina positively glowing through the Force.

"I thought you were inviting your girlfriends too." She said, looking at the mounds of food.

"I have." Jaina nibbled on a sweet bite. "I asked them to come later. So we could have some time alone together first. You know, just mother and daughter."

"Bit late for a mother-daughter bonding session don't you think." Leia suggested.

"No." Jaina shook her head. "I don't think it's ever too late for a mother-daughter bonding session."

Her meaning was perfectly clear to Leia. They may have been at odds in years gone by, but they had sought and found common ground and they had become friends again.  
Common ground...A common bond.  
Leia shuddered and Jaina stared at her mother.

"What? What's wrong?" Jaina begged, lowering her voice. "And don't say nothing because I know that's a lie. I can feel you shaking through the Force."

"Jaina...I said I wouldn't..." Leia breathed and reached for her glass of Champagne.

"Mom..." Jaina reached out to steady her mother's trembling arm. "You're really scaring me!"

Leia swallowed. Tried to calm her emotions.

"Mom..." Jaina persisted.

"It's your father." Leia started quietly. "I think he had an...an affair."

Jaina's face paled as Leia retold the events of the night before. Of Han's apparent involvement with Rosa Bur and of the child she bore, bearing his name.  
When she'd finished, Leia felt oddly relieved. And guilty, at having shared her burden with their daughter.

"What a scumbag!" Jaina proclaimed. "Well, he's not welcome at my Blessing now."

"Jaina!" Leia exclaimed.

"I mean it Mom. I do not want _that man_ at my Blessing."

"It'd break his heart." Leia said, appealing to her. "Besides, I kind of promised I wouldn't discuss this with you."

"Fine. He can come." Jaina conceded. "But he's still not welcome."

"I don't know why I'm even upset about all of this." Leia mused. "I mean, we were apart. As good as separated."

"Only you _weren't_ separated. Which means he cheated on you!" Jaina growled. "What's Jacen have to say? I thought he was supposed to be keeping his eye on Dad."

"I haven't spoken to Jacen." Leia said, halting Jaina before she could speak. "And you're not to talk to him either."

They both fell silent, eyeing their food and drink.

"I just don't understand how he could do that to you." Jaina said quietly.

"You know how his was back then." Leia said, just as quietly. "Grief...It can do things to people. Sometimes without them even realising it themselves."

Leia recalled her own grief at the loss of Alderaan. How she had closed herself off from just about everyone. How it had been that same grief that had kept her from facing her feelings for Han until it was almost too late.

"Oh great!" Jaina sighed. "The girls are here."

Leia heaved a sigh and straightened her back. "No sad faces." She said through a smile as the girls hurried over to join them.

While they all tucked into the belated Wedding Breakfast their conversations light and peppered with laughter, Han was greeting Luke to their apartment.  
Han was torn between being pleased at seeing his brother-in-law and annoyed at having to curtail his analysis of the information left by Junia Karoesh.

"Leia's having breakfast with Jaina." Han explained, shuffling flimsies together and sliding them beneath the datapad Junia had left also. The movement reinstated the holo of Rosa Bur and her son Jarik.

"My word!" Luke exclaimed over Han's shoulder. "Jorj has grown! He must be at least as tall as Ben. What're they feeding him at that School?"

"That's um...that's..not..Jorj..." Han fumbled to close down the holo.

Luke looked up at his friend expectantly.

Han sighed and rolled his eyes. "You want a beer?"

"For breakfast?" Luke queried.

"Trust me, it's not the bad idea it sounds." Han mumbled and lumbered into the kitchen, returning with two bottles of Corellian Ale.

"You upset Leia or something?" Luke guessed, accepting the bottle.

"Now there's the understatement of the Bi-Centennial!" Han swigged from his bottle and flopped into a self conforming chair.

"Anything I can do to help?" Luke asked, taking a seat across from Han. "Mediate or negotiate a truce?"

Han laughed.

"This have anything to do with the boy in the holo?" Luke surmised.

"No." Han took another swig. "This has _everything_ to do with the boy in the holo. His name's Jarik and is, allegedly, my son." Han took another drink and stared out of the window. "Just not Leia's."

Luke raised his eyebrows and read the label on his bottle of ale.

"Your silence speaks volumes." Han commented.

"Would you prefer me to ask the obvious?" Luke asked.

"I'd prefer the past twenty-four hours to have not happened." Han ran a hand over his face and levelled his gaze at Luke. "Some legal arrived here last night claiming to have evidence that I'd had an affair with some woman called Rosa Bur seven or eight years ago. The boy, Jarik, apparently the result of that affair."

"And...did you?" Luke asked, his heart pounding.

"The time she's talking about is probably the darkest in my life." Han said solemnly, shaking his head. "If she'd come here talking of a one-night-stand I would have felt guilt, shame, anger even. But what she's suggesting is that I as good as set up home with this Rosa for three months. Before you got here, I was reading through Rosa's diary and other paperwork. She describes our time together in pretty fine detail, except for one thing."

"What's that?" Luke asked, his voice affected by the ale he had just swallowed.

"Absolutely nowhere does she mention this." Han held up his left hand for Luke. "Now I know I was in a bad place about that time, just as I know that my happy marriage has led to an additional pound or two to my waistline. I also know I haven't taken my wedding band off for even a day since Leia put it there and with those additional pounds I was talking about, I couldn't take it off now if my damned life depended on it!"

Han drained the contents of his bottle and sat back in his chair.

"And yet, she doesn't even mention it anywhere." Han concluded and looked up again at Luke. "If I'm that kid's father, I'll eat the Falcon's sensor dish!"

While Han and Luke shared the kind of conversation they never expected to be having, Leia left her daughter and her friends to enjoy themselves citing a prior engagement she had been unable to cancel. The appointment was in fact an impromptu visit to the address left by Junia Karoesh which proved to be offices above a tapcafe.

Announcing herself at the reception, she was asked to take a seat while the receptionist sought Junia. Leia stepped aside and turned her attention to a noticeboard advertising legal services. From the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of a child sat at a low table in an ante-room. As the boy lifted his head to admire his drawing, Leia's heart skipped a beat.

"Jarik." She murmured and found herself gravitating toward the doorway.

With no sign of either the receptionist or Junia Karoesh, Leia pushed the door further ajar and stepped quietly inside.

"Hello." Jarik said, looking up.

"Hello." Leia replied, smiling down at the boy. "May I see your drawing?"

"Sure." He held the picture up for Leia who sank to her knees beside him. "It's my Daddy's spaceship."

"Really?" Leia admired the artwork which bore very little resemblance to the Falcon. "It's certainly a very fine craft."

The boy shrugged and reached for another sheet of drawing paper.

"You like drawing?" She asked.

He nodded and started another version along the same theme. Leia noticed several more pictures of spacecraft, all similar in design but no two exactly the same.

"Are all these your Father's starships?" Leia asked.

"Ahuh." He nodded. "He's got a whole fleet!"

"Wow!" Leia exclaimed. "A whole fleet. He must be a very important man."

Jarik seemed to consider that before shrugging again and carrying on with his drawing.

"What does your Daddy do?" Leia queried, watching the boy's movements and mannerisms.

"I don't know exactly." Jarik answered. "But I think he's a Space Ranger or something."

He smiled up at Leia who marvelled at the similarities between the child and his father. She hated herself for thinking it, but he did bear a striking resemblance to Jacen at that age.

"What are you doing in here?" Junia Karoesh barked from the doorway. "You're not supposed to be in here!"

Leia smiled again at the boy and rose to her feet, apologising and explaining that the door was already open.  
It sounded like the kind of apologetic excuse she would have abhorred when she had been in office. Clearly Junia was not impressed either.  
In a makeshift office, Junia offered Leia a seat and waited for an assistant to leave after providing a tray of drinks before asking how she could help.

"Your arrival last night was, as I'm sure you can imagine, somewhat unexpected and not a little off-putting." Leia explained.

"Yes. I'm sure. And I should apologise." Junia said. "It had been my intention to speak only with Captain Solo, however, when I was unable to reach him I felt a more direct approach might be necessary."

"Why the urgency?" Leia asked.

"I should be discussing this with your husband." Junia replied.

"He..um.." Leia looked skyward for inspiration, decided the truth was probably best. "He's adamant Jarik is not his son."

"I see." Junia grasped her cup and held it to her lips. The rich aroma of the caf reminded her she'd missed breakfast.

"I, however, am more easily convinced." Leia continued.

Junia returned her cup to it's saucer. "Usually it's the wife who needs irrefutable proof of her husband's infidelity."

"Han and I were experiencing a period of marital disharmony around the time of Jarik's conception. I may not be thrilled to learn he fathered a child with another woman, but that's hardly the child's fault." Leia said. "May I ask, if Han refuses to accept responsibility what will happen with the boy?"

"I repeat, I should be discussing this with your husband." Junia reminded Leia. "But...I can say there is no requirement through Rosa's legacy to insist upon a paternity test."

"Meaning...what?" Leia queried.

"A child with no proof of paternity and therefore no legal guardian is likely to find himself referred to the Government of his Home World. That Government is likely to make him a Ward of Court and, depending upon the Government in question, he may be placed in a suitable facility."

"An orphanage?" Leia pressed. "Or a workhouse?"

"As I say." Junia picked up her cup again. "Depends upon the Government."

"Thank you." Leia rose and extended a hand. "You've been very helpful."

Leia left, taking a moment or two to again observe the child called Jarik Solo through the open door before stepping out into the Coruscant sun.  
She took her time going home, stopping en route at the park taking in the families out enjoying and playing in the warm sunshine.  
She and Han had missed so much of this when Jaina, Jacen and Anakin were growing up. They had the time with Jorj but their son's behavioural difficulties made it problematic at times for them to really enjoy his childhood with him. Would it be fair to Jorj though, she wondered, to usurp his position in the family with an older brother. Would he even understand.  
She mentally shook the thought from her head. Of course he would understand. It might take him a little while longer than Jaina or Jacen to process the news but he wasn't an imbecile. He _would_ get it. Eventually.  
Leia sat a while longer, breathing in the fresh air, admiring the tree blossom and listening to the birdsong and picnicking families.

"Your Highness?" The voice and soft hand on her shoulder roused Leia from the nap she had drifted into.

"Goodness!" Leia exclaimed, straightening and wiping a hand over her eyes. "Winter, you startled me."

"You were asleep." Winter glided onto the bench beside Leia.

"I was resting my eyes." Leia corrected.

"That rasping noise you were making begs to differ." Winter teased.

"Was I snoring?" Leia asked, looking around horrified that she could have been heard.

"Are you all right Your Highness?" Winter asked. "If you don't mind me saying, you look awfully tired."

"I had a restless night is all." Leia replied.

"Him?" Winter arched an eyebrow. "Has he been demanding marital bliss by menaces?"

"Han _demands_ nothing." Leia smiled to herself, thinking of her still sexy husband. "What I give, I do so willingly."

"Is there anything I can do Your Highness?" Winter asked with concern.

"Thank you Winter." Leia smiled and rose. "I think you know I trust you above just about anyone, with the exception of Han. But on this occasion, I am unable to comment further at this time."

"Just know, I'm here for you. If you ever need me." Winter smiled up at Leia who acknowledged her kindness with a nod of her head before returning home.

The smell of alcohol assaulted Leia's nostrils when she entered the apartment. Han was nowhere to be seen but Luke looked up sheepishly from the sofa and pointed at the pile of empty bottles.

"They're not all mine." He told her defensively.

"So, is Han lying down or throwing up?" She asked.

"Han was getting another beer. Why, you want one?" Han queried as he returned from the kitchen, two bottles in his hand.

"I prefer a clear head." She answered.

"And I really should be going." Luke said, rising. "Mara's going to be wondering where I got to."

"Coward!" Han mumbled just loud enough for both Luke and Leia to hear.

"Give Mara and Ben my love." Leia smiled as she hugged Luke. "Tell them I'm looking forward to catching up with them tomorrow."

"I will. And you know where I am. You know...if you need to talk." Luke hugged her back, his meaning abundantly clear.

After Luke had left, Han looked down at the beer bottles in his hand. "You sure you don't want one of these?"

Leia shook her head, sadly.

"Nah. Me neither." Han dumped the bottles on a table and slumped into a sofa.

"You told Luke?" Leia asked.

"He saw the holo." Han sighed. "Assumed it was Jorj. I had to tell him something. You ever tried lying to a Jedi?"

"I had breakfast with Jaina and tried to convince her that everything was all right. So, don't talk to me about lying to a Jedi." Leia joined Han, beside him on the sofa.

He stuck a boot on a low table, crossing his other foot at the ankle.

"I asked Jacen to search the Falcon logs for all destinations during the period that kid would have come into existence." He fumbled in a pocket and withdrew a wafer. "Proof. Actual logs from the Falcon archives which show without a shadow of a doubt that we were nowhere near either Cotellier or Tralus."

He placed the wafer on the sofa between them.

"_Actual_ logs. Or the doctored, inflated versions you used to submit during the Rebellion?" She queried, holding the wafer up to the light.

"For your information Sweetheart, they were neither doctored nor inflated." Han corrected. "They merely reflected the additional financial outlay that would have raised eyebrows had I tried to submit a claim."

"Sure they were." Leia smiled and returned the wafer to the sofa's cushion. "But you don't need to provide proof of anything to me."

"No?" Han turned to look at her sidelong. "You think Jaina feels the same way? Or Luke? What about Winter or the more than half the High Council who as good as laughed at me when we married? You remember them? They were the one's supporting your alliance with Isolder while thinking I was okay, well just about okay, for a brief fling but not real husband potential."

"I saw him today." She told him quietly.

"Isolder?" Han frowned. "Every time I turn around that guy is there to kick me in the gonads!"

"No. Not Isolder." Leia explained. "Jarik."

"You saw him?" Han twisted to face her. "What do you mean you saw him?"

"After I left Jaina, I went to the address Junia left and Jarik was there." Leia explained.

Han pushed to his feet and started pacing.

"Why...? Why would you even go there?" Han challenged.

"I...I wanted to speak to Junia." Leia continued, puzzled by the Han's reaction.

"Without me?" He barked.

"I wanted to know what would happen if you didn't accept Jarik as your son." She told him and rose also.

"Which he isn't!" Han stated angrily.

"Han, they'll ship him back to Tralus." Leia reasoned.

"So?" Han visibly shook.

"So, if he's lucky he'll end up in an orphanage. More than likely he'll end up in a workhouse. And who knows, maybe he'll end up in the clutches of someone like Garris Shrike." She argued.

"Don't you dare throw Garris Shrike in my face!" Han yelled.

"I'm just pointing out..." Leia started.

"No!" Han pointed at her. "No!"

"Okay. I'm sorry. Han, I'm sorry." Leia said calmly. "I just thought..."

"You thought you could fix this." Han accused her. "And you didn't trust me."

"That's not true! But...you know what, you're making me start to wonder." She answered, puzzled by his behaviour. She didn't wait around for a denial, heading instead to the bedroom to change into casual slacks and a soft blouse.

As Han stood in the doorway to their bedroom she had taken out the elaborate set of looped braids and was twisting her hair into one long, soft plait over her shoulder.  
She'd have known he was watching her even without her sense of the Force, even without seeing him reflected in her mirror.  
They had spent too many years involved in conflict to be able to bear an atmosphere between one another for a protracted period of time.

"I'm sorry." Han said softly as she finished her plait.

She regarded his reflection as he moved to sit on the end of the bed and flop back, staring up at the ceiling.

"There was this girl." Han said, a familiar coldness settling somewhere in the pit of Leia's stomach. "Jace and I were some place out the back of nowhere and I was on one of my all too frequent scouting missions to oblivion."

Leia swivelled on her stool to watch Han as he lay on the bed opening up to her, something he did rarely and usually only after whatever it was had nibbled at his subconscious for some time.

"She was unbelievably beautiful. Curves in all the right places." He explained, as much with his hands as with his words. "We got talking. Shared a couple of drinks before I invited her back to the Falcon for a nightcap."

Leia rose from her stool to kneel beside him on the bed. "Did she stay the night? You know, with you?"

"I seriously doubt it." Han turned his head to look up at her. "I passed out drunk or drugged, I don't know which, somewhere between the dejarik table and the galley. Woke up with my face stuck to the floor, fully clothed an' minus every credit in my back pocket. Plus she took my best vibroblade!"

"Poor you." Leia said, ashamed at her sense of relief.

"Couple of days later I got your call about Jaina and well, you know the rest." He told her, allowing a hand to draw circles on her thigh. "I've done a lot of things Ley, a good number of which I'm not very proud of, but I swear to you...I _swear_...tempted though I may have been...I have _never_ been unfaithful to you."

Leia slid down to his side, pressing herself to him and wrapping an arm around his torso.

"If there'd been someone else..." She said, feeling his arm circle her shoulders. "I'd understand you know."

"She was my only temptation." Han assured her. "And I think, to a degree, my salvation."

Leia tilted her head around to look at him as his hand caressed her shoulder.

"It was after she robbed me I realised how stupid and selfish I was being and that it was about time I got my life back on track and my wife back in my arms." He looked down, soft hazel eyes holding her deep brown one's. "I was already on my way back when you called about Jaina's transport."

Leia snuggled tighter into Han's chest.

"I came so close to losing you." Han wrapped his other arm around her, hugging her tightly. "And I don't ever want to be in that position again."

They lay quietly together, wrapped in each other's arms until Leia pushed herself to one elbow and examined Han's chin scar with a fingertip. Their years together had taught him that light touch was prelude to a conversation she expected him not to enjoy.

"You want to talk about Jarik." Han stated. "He's not my son. And he's not our responsibility."

"No." She moved a fraction closer, her hand resting against his cheek. "But he could be."

Han pushed her gently away and sat up, turning to look at her. "No!"

"Han, please! Just listen." She appealed, sitting also and smiling. "He's such a sweet boy. He was drawing pictures of just about every kind of starship you've ever seen."

"Great! I hope he gets a Scholarship." He pushed to his feet. "I'm gonna go start dinner. You got any preferences?"

"No. Whatever's fine with me." Leia answered sadly.

Both knew this was only the first round.  
Both knew the other wouldn't give in without a fight.  
Both felt they would ultimately be the victor.  
Neither was ready to face what winning might cost them any more than they were willing to consider the price of losing. 

Dinner was eaten in relative quiet. Han had prepared a version of Spicy Corellian Soup that reflected the differences in both of their palates. To Leia's he added salted crackers to his own a spiced variety that gave his soup the kind of kick he found more appetising.  
Leia looked up from her meal sporadically, though never in Han's direction.  
Han was more blatant, staring at her in an attempt to engage in the inevitable second round of their disagreement. When that failed to achieve the desired effect he took to watching her surreptitiously waiting for the right moment to pounce.  
It came, finally, when she reached for the last slice of flatbread only to be beaten by Han's swifter hand. She withdrew her hand, apologetically.

"Go ahead." Han offered.

"No. You. Chef's prerogative." Leia said.

"I insist." He countered.

"I'd like for you to take it." A coy smiled tugged at the corners of her mouth. "It'll help soak up all that ale."

"Let me assure you Honey, I can drink a whole lot more than that and still stay sober!" He answered and picked up the flatbread and his knife. "But..."

Behind his bowl he carved the flatbread and held out a portion for Leia. "I say, we share."

The bread he had carved for her was in the shape of a heart. Leia smiled as she accepted the bread and floated it on the remainder of her soup.

"You want to maybe watch a smashball game later?" She asked him.

"Season's over." Han replied and rolled his eyes. "Thank the stars!"

"I know. But I noticed in the listings they're re-running the Dreadnaughts' finest hour." She scooped another spoonful of soup into her mouth.

"What? They need a whole hour?" He asked in amazement.

Her light laughter gladdened his heart.

"So." Han laid his spoon beside his empty bowl. "How about you tell me what's so special about this boy, Jarik?"

"It's not that he's special, per se." She swallowed the last of her soup and looked up at him. "He's just a boy who needs a good home. And we could give him that good home."

"There're a lot of kids out there who need a good home Ley. You wanna move 'em all in?"

"I didn't go in search of him." She explained, smiling at the memory. "But when I saw him...oh Han, it's not just the physical similarities. His drawings remind me of how I imagine you were at his age. Dreaming of a life in the stars. A life better than the one he's living."

"Must have been a hard life. Single mother raising a child on her own in a mining colony." Han mused. "And not a real great place for a boy to grow up without a father."

"Exactly." Leia said. "But we have the opportunity to improve his situation dramatically."

"I can see how you'd think that." He nodded. "I just don't see how giving him a father who isn't _really_ his father is being very fair to him."

"Oh, I don't know. I was very happy having a father who wasn't really my father." Leia said brightly.

"Until you found out who your real father was." Han reminded her. "Then it gave you nightmares that rivalled losing Alderaan."

He gathered their dishes and removed them to the cleansing unit. When he returned to the living area, Leia had settled herself in a corner of the sofa, legs drawn beneath her.  
Han sat beside her, placing his arms around her shoulders.

"You're trying to do a good thing Leia." He spoke softly into her ear. "You're just going about it the wrong way."

"What do you care." She accused over her shoulder. "He's not your son. Not your responsibility."

"I've been thinking about that." Han told her after some consideration. "What if I told you I have a theory about who's son he might be."

He felt her stiffen, her head turn so that she could regard him from the corner of her eyes, her breathing quickening.

"I haven't been lying to you. He _isn't_ my child. And I _haven't_ been unfaithful."

"Not Jacen?" She breathed, confused and fearful.

Han laughed, heartily. "No Sweetheart. I think it's a safe assumption that about the time this Jarik was being conceived, Jacen's only concern was keeping me from choking on my own vomit!"

"Why am I not comforted by that thought?" She asked sarcastically, before turning fully to look at him. "Then who?"

"Thracken." Han answered.

"Your cousin?" Leia looked more puzzled still.

"My cousin." Han nodded once. "Thracken Sal-Solo, who happens to bear more than a passing resemblance to me, especially with a beard such as I was sporting at about that time. Thracken Sal-Solo who spent much of his formative years on Tralus. And Thracken Sal-Solo who despises me just about enough to use my name in vain!"

"So...you think he, what, hooked up with Rosa and thought he'd give her your name on the off-chance he got her pregnant?" Leia queried.

"No, _I_ think he gave her my name because 'Han Solo' still carries a little kudos in the right quarters. Pretty girl in a backwater like Cottelier..." Han spoke as he thought. "...could be a passport to somewhere with a little more going for it. Somewhere like Coruscant. Somewhere, say, where Han Solo resides."

"Along with his wife and family." Leia stated the obvious.

"Who knows what he told her for sure." Han said. "That we were estranged, legally separated, awaiting divorce maybe."

Leia looked away. At the time, it wasn't such a far-fetched idea.

"I don't suppose you have any proof to support this theory of yours?" She asked.

"Apart from the Falcon logs which show I was nowhere near either Cottelier or Tralus, the description of her lover is as accurate for him as it is for me. The beard I had would have masked the chin scar, but she makes no mention of my Wedding Band." He tilted her chin up to hold her gaze. "I'm not just willing to undergo a paternity assessment, I'm prepared to demand it."

"I believe you Han." Leia covered his hand with her own, drawing his palm to her lips and kissing it.

He could see her processing the information, weighing up the odds, as she nuzzled his hand.

"So that just leaves Jarik." She said after a while.

"I don't doubt he's a great kid Ley. And I don't bear him any ill-will. But Sweetheart, we just got this place to ourselves." His smile was genuine. "And I'm getting too old to be chasing another man's child around the park."

"You're right." She said, with a sad sigh. "Of course you're right."

_'You're_ _right'_ was usually the way Leia started an argument when she knew in fact it was _she_ who was right, Han thought, but he decided not to press the matter. Instead, he reclined back on the sofa and waited for her to slip into his waiting arms. For a moment he thought he would be waiting in vain until, with a soft smile, she lay with him and sighed again as he adjusted his posture to ensure them both maximum comfort.

"I was too ready to accept him as your son." She said, which to Han indicated the argument was far from over. "And when I saw him I was all the more convinced."

He kissed her temple and cradled her as the entertainment centre sprang to life in preparation for the Dreadnaughts one and only moment of triumph.

"Not that I didn't trust you. But, well, you know..you're a good looking man. It's only natural that you'd..you know..have needs. And as I said before, we were both different people back then. I wouldn't have blamed you for seeking solace in another." When he didn't interrupt or reassure her of his fidelity one more time, she turned her head to study him and finally asked. "Did you? That girl you told me about, did you find solace with her?"

"The only thing I got from her was ripped off!" He moaned. "That and the kick in the pants I needed to remind me that _you_ are my quantum of solace Sweetheart."

She smiled again, nestling her head on his chest.

"Besides..." He added, not wanting the moment to pass. "After everything I went through to snag a Princess in the first place, I wasn't about to throw that away. Took losing Chewie to make me realise what a bargain I got!"

She lightly pinched his chest through his shirt, eliciting a string of yelps speckled with a smattering of his favourite Corellian curses all wrapped around giggles.

"Stop now!" He commanded. "Come on. I mean it. Stop, before I miss one of the finest games the Dreadnaughts ever played."

His arms held Leia close and between his favourite teams occasional flashes of brilliance he found himself gazing at the woman who had not just stolen his heart, but chosen him over a life of untold riches had she married Royalty.  
And he reflected on all the times he had scoffed at Luke, back before he'd known he was Leia's sibling, for daring to presume they had achieved some kind of connection through the Force. He also recalled Luke's obvious infatuation with her, as well as his own if he cared to consider his actions back then closely enough.  
The trouble with love, in Han's cynical view, was that it had a way of turning sane men into saps. Luke would have done anything to have earned Leia's love. He'd have even kissed a Wookiee if she had asked him to! Whereas Han...all he would have done was walk away and let the woman he loved be with the man she loved, if she'd decreed it.  
As it turned out, his grand gesture on Endor was unnecessary. Pity though, because as grand gestures went, it was about the best Han had to offer, not being a Prince or having a whole Star System for her to rule over.  
He was suddenly aware of Leia's big brown eyes looking up at him.

"What?" She asked.

"Just thinking..." He started, but stopped, bent his head and kissed her tenderly.

"Mmm..." She smiled and licked her lips, resting her head again on his chest. "I like your way of thinking."

Han's eyes returned to the screen, though his thoughts remained a lifetime away.


	3. Chapter 3

"Why didn't you wake me?" Leia yawned as she entered the living area. "There's a lot to do before the Blessing."

"I figured you deserved an extra hour." He placed a cup of stim tea in her hands. "Plus we have plenty of time and there really isn't all that much to do."

"For you maybe." She sank into a chair, hugging the cup.

"I was thinking of going to that patisserie on 7th that you like." He said. "I know Jacen's not much into pastries, but I'm sure Jaina would appreciate some."

"Sure." She agreed, watching him. "If you really want to."

"Back soon." He kissed the top of her head and left.

_Whatever is it he's up to,_ she thought, _I hope it's not expensive._ Then she smiled to herself. _Or at least not too expensive!_

The patisserie was able to create a box of pastries they knew from past orders Leia would enjoy and his next stop proved just as easy, finding exactly what he wanted in just one store at the Mall. On reflection, Han couldn't help wonder why it proved such a chore when he went with Leia. However, he feared his final stop would be more problematic.  
Waiting patiently for her to join him, Han considered how best to approach the meeting. His off-centre smile charmed just about every woman he had ever had the pleasure to meet. Just about every woman with the exception of the young Princess Leia Organa and the woman now sitting across from him, Junia Karoesh.

"Simply put, no." She answered him, sternly.

"You sure you don't want to re-consider that?" His smile spread to his most engaging grin.

"Positive." She said plainly.

"You allowed my wife access."

"That was a mistake, for which I apologise." Junia corrected.

"Five minutes." He smiled again. "Where's the harm?"

"The harm, is that it is not permitted." She told him.

"You permitted my wife..." He started.

"I'm sorry Captain." Junia rose. "But we seem to going around in circles. A mistake was made and your wife inadvertently gained access to your son."

"Now, I never said he was my son." Han waggled a finger at her.

"All the more reason to deny you access." Junia stated and offered her hand. "Goodbye Captain Solo."

"Now hold on!" Han said, sounding annoyed. "You turn up, _at my home_, and accuse me of being this kid's father and I'm what, supposed to just accept that without even seeing him? I bet he doesn't even look like me!"

"He has your expression." She said.

"That it?" He asked, sounded unimpressed.

"And your last name." Junia added, equally unimpressed.

"I got a cousin with that too. Don't make _him_ my son either." Han said sarcastically.

"Captain, can I ask, what difference spending five minutes with him would make?" She sighed. "Either he is your son or he isn't."

"I've raised four kids. Five minutes is all it'll take for me to recognise myself in him." He said, adding. "Or not."

"This is highly unorthodox..." She considered his request. "Very well. Five minutes. But Captain, I do not do this lightly. I will be expecting your decision, one way or the other, immediately post meeting."

Han smiled to himself in triumph. Then immediately wondered what he had done.  
All he had wanted was to see what it was about this kid Leia had fallen so head over heels for. Now it seemed he was being cornered into deciding whether to accept another man's son as if he was his own in the space of a few minutes.

"Hang on a minute." Han frowned, reconsidering his position.

"What is it now Captain?" Junia matched his frown.

Han rubbed at his temples in confusion.

"Ya see..well..the thing is.." He took a breath before plunging onward. "I know he's _not_ my son. Now before you start quoting what Rosa Bur wrote in her journal, I have ships logs that prove I didn't go to Cotellier or Tralus at the time he was conceived and therefore I couldn't have fathered him."

"Then why are you wasting my time?" Junia asked angrily.

"Leia, my wife, seems quite taken with the boy. She's worried about him getting sent to some lowlife, scumbag labour master. And..well..I guess I figured if I saw him, maybe I'd feel the same way. Though quite what I was going to do if I saw him and _didn't_ feel that way I'm not so sure about!"

"And you thought you could just pass yourself off as his father, no questions asked." She assumed.

"Well it's not like you wanted a blood sample when you came looking for me." He stated, annoyed.

"I was thinking of your family." She said. "The four children you raised for example."

"Okay. So I didn't say it was a great plan." He ran a hand over his face. "I'm sure I'm gonna laugh about this one day. But for now, could we just forget I stopped by here today?"

"That would seem wise." She said and offered him her hand again.

Junia escorted Han out and watched him disappear down the street before turning to the receptionist.

"Could you do something for me Florrie?" She asked. "I need a background search on all mature males, surname Solo. I'm specifically looking for a cousin to the family of Han Solo."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

When he returned to the apartment, both Jaina and Jacen had already arrived.

"You were gone a while." Leia said suspiciously.

"Well, you know how that Mall can be." He said, leaning down to kiss her. "Buuuut, I got buns!"

"Yes you have." She muttered up at him, her eyes shining and her hand snaking behind him to squeeze his buttock.

Jaina's jaw dropped open and she shook her head at her parents. "Promise me I am _not_ going to find you in a closet or under a table later. And if I do, promise me you won't be naked!"

"All the best parties end with someone naked in a closet." Han grinned. "Remember that time we found Luke and Mara..oh no, wait..that was Lando and Mara..right. Okay, bad example. But ordinarily all the best parties end with someone naked in a closet. Might as well be your Mom and me, since neither of our progeny are likely to find themselves there."

"You mentioned something about buns?" Leia queried.

Han produced a box of pastries from a brown package, much to Leia's delight.

"Help yourselves ladies." He indicated Jacen should follow him into the kitchen.

"Here." Han handed him a greasy bag. "Don't let your Mom see them. You know how she feels about us eating these!"

"Stodge Burgers!" Jacen exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down!" Han hissed. "She'll have me on half rations for a month!"

"I dunno what Mom's got against these." Jacen said around a mouthful of meat, hard potato, mixed vegetables and hard pastry shell. "They're gorgeous!"

"She says they're full of fat enzymes an' stuff." He said, keeping an eye on Leia and Jaina, chatting and laughing over their pastries.

"These both for me?" Jacen queried, mouth bursting with produce.

"Does the Falcon fly all by herself?" Han frowned. "I'll have mine while your Mom and Jaina are getting ready for the Blessing. Did your Mom tell you about Tenel Ka?"

"Yeah." Jacen swallowed the last of his pattie and wiped his mouth with a tissue. "She said she'd managed to negotiate a meeting between us."

"Isolder's gonna escort her to the celebration dinner." Han said. "But he's threatened not to let her out of his sight the whole time. I'm sorry Son, it's not gonna be much of a meeting."

"At least I'll get to see her You know, see that she's okay." Jacen said, a touch more dreamily than Han would have liked.

"You still care about her, even after all this time Son?" Han asked.

Jacen's left shoulder lifted in a half-shrug. "I...I love her I...I guess."

Han watched Jacen's face soften and then contort with emotion and Han's mental cogs started working on a way of ensuring his son got more than just a few minutes with his first love, especially under Isolder's close scrutiny.

"Mom says if you're having a 'stodge-burger' she'll know and you'll be sleeping on the sofa for a week." Jaina grinned at her father from the doorway. "She didn't say so, but I'm thinking she's just concerned for your ageing ticker."

"You tell your Mom if I want a meat pattie for breakfast I'll kriffing have one and nobody can stop me!" He said.

"You really want me to say that to her?" Jaina queried, one eyebrow raised.

"Dress it up a little would you Honey?" He smiled. "Tell her I wouldn't touch one of those heart-attack inducers if she paid me and that I'm just in here chewing the fat with my number one son."

"Sure Dad." She grinned. "Oh and she keeps the breath-mints in the 'fresher cabinet if you want to grab a handful before we go get ready. Mom's just finishing the last strawberry muffin."

Han winked at her. "That's my girl. Give me five minutes and I'll be outta your way so you and your Mom can go fix yourselves up real nice."

"We don't look nice already?" She teased, turning to leave.

"Get outta here!" He spanked her rear playfully and returned his attention to his very sullen number one son. "Jace, stay sharp tonight okay? You'll get a private meeting with Tenel Ka even if it takes me having a little man to man with Isolder over a hot blaster."

"Daaad!" Jacen cocked his head to one side in the same disapproving way his mother often used on Han.

"I'll try a cold beer first, obviously. The blaster's just a back up plan!"

"Don't bother Dad." Jacen pushed off from his perch against a cupboard. "Isolder's right. I _am_ just a worthless waste of space."

Head bowed, body language submissive, Jacen trundled back into the living area and sank into a chair. Han didn't try to stop him. He knew the boy's issues went much deeper than merely a failed romance.  
With a loving smile to Leia, Han told her he would gather his things from the bedroom and leave it for her and Jaina to prepare for the ceremony. He took a couple of breath-mints from the cabinet, shoving them into a pocket before collecting shaving equipment and removing his suit from the wardrobe and moving everything through to Jorj's small but adequate bedroom.  
With Han out of their way, Leia and Jaina took turns to shower and dress and ready themselves for Jaina and Jag's Jedi Blessing.  
At Jaina's request, Leia started to braid her daughter's hair as she had for her aborted Wedding six months earlier.

"About that remark earlier." Jaina said. "About being found naked in a closet."

"Take no notice of your father! You know how he likes to tease." Leia told her.

"It's just that...well...it might be me and Jag you find in there after all." Jaina grinned at her mother through the mirror. "We made love last night."

"You did?" Leia beamed back. "How was it? No...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to ask that."

"It's okay." Jaina said. "We were going to wait until tonight, but thought it might be just too much pressure to put on ourselves. Jag was so worried he'd hurt me. I guess it'll get better. I hope it'll get better."

"It will." Leia assured her. "Just give yourselves time. Nobody's born a naturally great lover. Apart from your father, of course."

Leia winked at Jaina through the mirror and stepped back. "What do you think?"

Jaina admired her hair. "They say what I wanted?"

"One braid for Chewbacca, one for Anakin and one for Hannay." Leia pointed each out. "Just as I said I would."

"Thank you Mom." Jaina smiled. "But I have one more request?"

Leia arched an eyebrow in query.

"When you have time, would you teach me the secrets of the braids?" Jaina asked nervously.

Leia smiled again. "I'd be honoured."

"Mom..." Jaina rose to her feet, her voice taking on a serious edge. "Dad's not the only one not to say it often enough, I love you Mom. I love you so much."

Leia smiled lovingly at her daughter, grateful that they had been able to find each other just as she and Han had. A gentle rap at the doorway startled them.

"You ladies ready? Only the hovercab's here." Han announced.

"We're ready." Jaina answered and slipped her hand into her mother's.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

The Jedi Blessing ceremony was brief.  
Luke welcomed family, friends and honoured guests, and invited Jaina and Jagged to confirm their truthful and honest intent to be life partners. The couple had not opted to recite their own vows, as Han and Leia had when they renewed their marriage vows, therefore having accepted one another all that remained was for Luke to offer a Blessing on their Union and to ask that the congregation bear witness to the couple's love.  
Han couldn't help commenting in Leia's ear that it all seemed a whole lot of hype - and expense - for very little substance.  
Leia couldn't help commenting in Han's ear that the 'hype' was for their only daughter's benefit and to stop worrying about the credits. It was worth every last one and more to see Jaina so very happy. Han had to grudgingly agree, Jaina did look happy. In fact about the happiest he'd seen her in along time.  
Han also couldn't fail to notice a certain skip in Jagged Fel's step as the couple smiled and laughed their way back along the line of congratulating family and friends.

"They're sleeping together, aren't they?" He whispered in Leia's ear.

"Last night. First time." She beamed up at her husband.

Han inhaled through his smile. Had to happen, he supposed, they were married after all. But somehow, it still made his heart ache with the certainty that his little girl was now officially another's.

"Well." Luke clapped his arms around Han and Leia's shoulders. "She didn't run away this time!"

"More's the pity!" Han commented.

"I thought you'd made your peace with Jag?" Luke queried.

"He has." Leia confirmed. "He just doesn't like thinking of Jaina making anything with Jag."

"Like 'love'...or worse...a baby!" Han could feel his lip curling in disgust.

"Come on 'Gramps'" Leia extended her hand to Han. "Let's go congratulate the happy couple."

Luke joined Mara and Ben and watched as Han and Leia bestowed their daughter and son-in-law with hugs and words of celebration.

"I sense a lot of conflicting emotions." Mara said.

"Hmm." Luke nodded. "So do I."

"I wasn't sensing them from the Solos." Mara noted, eyeing her husband.

"I have _no_ regrets." Luke affirmed, gently squeezing her shoulder.

"Sure about that?" She pressed.

"_None_. None whatsoever." He slid into the seat beside her before noticing the arrival of a team of attendants preparing to turn the room into a dining and dancing area. "But, unless I'm very much mistaken I think we should exit into the gardens."

He rose again, offering to help Mara up.

"I'm not an invalid yet Skywalker!" She admonished, batting his hands aside and using the chair to push herself upright.

"Dad's not suggesting you are Mom." Ben said, defending his father. "We just...we wanna help."

Mara smiled lovingly at her son. "Well, now, if a handsome young man were to offer me his arm..."

Ben Skywalker, first and only child to Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker, proffered his mother his arm.

"Why, thank you young man." Mara giggled and eased her arm into her son's and together they slowly followed everyone out into the gardens.

Luke tried not to watch with a worried eye as his ailing wife exited into the botanical gardens sunlight. But there was no denying that the illness she had been deliberately infected with, was slowly robbing her of her life. By all accounts she should have been long in her grave by now, it was only her own fortitude and sense of tenacity that kept her from dying.  
Mara glanced back over her shoulder, her face clearly showing she knew exactly what he was thinking. His own face offered up an apology, one which he wasn't entirely sure she accepted.  
In the gardens, Jaina and Jagged Fel posed for holovids with their family and friends whilst the interior was transformed into an elegant room where they would all return for dinner and an evening of music and dance.  
With the preparations well under way, Leia drifted from the main group to join Luke, Mara and Ben. She lightly pecked her brother's cheek and thanked him for performing the ceremony.

"Always a pleasure." Luke said. "More so when it's family."

"They won't be long." Leia said, mostly to Mara. "There's a seat in the shade while we wait."

"I'm fine Leia." Mara assured her. "You know how I hate a fuss."

"Well..." Leia glanced at Luke and Ben. "I might sit. Whoever invented heels should be executed!"

Luke politely excused himself, suggesting he and Ben locate some drinks and with a reluctant acceptance of the inevitable Mara joined Leia on the bench, fidgeting until she had made herself comfortable.

"He says he has no regrets." Mara mused, watching Luke from across the beautifully manicured lawn.

"He doesn't." Leia confirmed. "He wouldn't exchange a single moment of his life with you."

Mara's eyes were drawn to the bench's dedication plaque, it's meaning not lost on her.

"I find myself wondering how many more moments we might have left to share." Mara said and ran a finger across the words of remembrance. "Before I am just a memory. Or a name on a park bench."

There was so much and at the same time so little Leia could say.

"You sound so deflated." Leia finally noted, shaking her head.

"I'm realistic Leia. We both know I'm on borrowed time." Mara replied with a sigh. "My only regret is that I will not live to see my boy grow into the remarkable young man I know he will become. Or see him marry...have children of his own..."

Leia was too slow to wipe the tear she'd tried so hard not to shed from her cheek.

"I'm sorry Leia, it wasn't my intention to upset you on such a happy day." Mara's smile was weak, but earnest.

"Figured I'd find you crying on someone's shoulder!" Han teased Leia as he approached, his lopsided grin lightening the mood. "They're ready for us to go back in."

"I should touch up my make up first." Leia said, dabbing at her eye she rose and excused herself.

"Judging by the time Luke's taking getting me that drink, I can only assume he must be touching up his make up also." Mara said flippantly.

"Lucky then there's a handsome Corellian on standby." Han held out his hand for Mara. "It'd make an old man real happy to escort a beautiful redhead in to greet his guests on the occasion of his only daughter's Jedi Blessing."

"You practice that speech all the way over here Solo?" Mara asked and pushed herself awkwardly to her feet.

"I'm not really a 'speech' kind of a guy. I kinda prefer making things up on the hoof." He told her, placing a steadying arm around her waist.

"I've already had to admonish Skywalker for his over-protectiveness, don't make me into a nag!" She told him, trying and failing to slap his arm away.

"My wife had a similar attitude during her ill health." Han said. "Didn't impress me then, doesn't impress me now."

"Is there anything that _does_ impress you Solo?" She asked, trying to stifle a grimace of pain.

"Sure. Lots of things." Han nodded. "Just not stubbornness for stubbornness sake."

"I need to sit down." Mara breathed.

"No, you do not." Han lifted her easily into his arms and carried her into the transformed interior room.

"What..." Luke started.

"My fault." Han answered Luke's unfinished question. "Trampled on her foot."

He settled Mara into a comfortable chair, bending and appearing to massage her foot.

"Probably best for you to sit the first few dances out while your foot recovers." Han winked up at Mara before rising to his full height. "I gotta go. Guests to greet. Hands to shake. Credits to kiss goodbye to."

Saluting with the middle and forefinger of his right hand, Han strode off to join Leia, Jacen and Jaina, Jagged and the Fels to officially welcome their guests.

"He's the worst liar I ever met." Luke muttered. "How he's gotten away with some of the stuff he's told Leia over the years I'll never understand."

"Perhaps she's happy to take him at face value." Mara suggested.

"Can I help it if I worry?" Luke asked, dropping to a knee to look at her clearly unaffected ankle.

"I fear we don't have much time left together Skywalker." Mara whispered.

"Don't talk that way!" Luke chastised.

"I _must_." She insisted. "Since you fail to recognise what is clear for all to see. And I _need_ you to see it Luke. I _need_ you to accept the inevitability of this disease so that we can plan for what time we have left. Not just with each other, but with our son. Don't we owe it to Ben to make what preparations we can?"

Luke inhaled, knowing her words to be the truth.

"I fear it too." He whispered up at her, his eyes misting. "But we can't do this tonight. Not on Jaina and Jagged's day. Not after everything they have come through. It wouldn't be fair."

"Tomorrow then. Tomorrow we start planning our last days together." Mara said.

Across the long room, Leia looked worriedly up at her husband. They spoke as well as they could between guests passing, shaking their hands and congratulating them on a wonderful ceremony.

"Mara?" She asked, her voice trembling as Han simply nodded his head. "It's so unfair."

"It's Ben I feel sorry for." Han said. "When a kid loses his Dad he becomes the man of the house. But when a kid loses his Mom, he loses the feminine quality that shapes his ability to relate to women in later life."

"What's wrong with Aunt Mara?" Jaina whispered.

"Just tired." Leia lied. "She gets so very tired. Standing through the ceremony really took it out of her."

"Anything we can do?" Jag asked, leaning around Jaina.

"Just...be understanding. That's all." Leia smiled as she shook another hand and gratefully accepted the salutations of a tall gracious couple she knew she should know but simply couldn't recall.

The long line of guests gradually thinned as they all greeted the Fels and the Solos and found their allocated tables.  
Dinner was as sumptuous as any state banquet Leia had attended or indeed hosted.  
The menu had been chosen by Jaina and Jag and reflected the multi-cultural nature of their gathered friends and family. The evening buffet had also been chosen by the couple and predominantly contained traditional dishes from Alderaan, Corellia, Nirauan and Coruscant along with floral decorations in a style inspired by Kashyyyk, a move not unnoticed by Han.  
Luke, Ben and Mara shared their table with Han, Leia and Jacen, while Jaina and Jag opted to sit with six of their closest friends. Their decision had been based on the tables being laid for eight and not wanting to have to split their families or choose between one set of parents or the other.  
With their meals eaten and flatware cleared, Jagged rose to his feet and signalled for quiet.  
As the guests turned their attention to the couple, Jag smiled down at Jaina.

"With your permission." He announced. "May I have this dance?"

Jaina rose also, slipped the Jedi robes that had covered her dress over the back of her chair and, hand in hand, allowed Jag to lead her to the centre of the dance floor.  
A live band struck up a soft Alderaanian melody and the couple nestled together, swaying to the tune.  
Leia let a small gasp escape her lips.

"You okay Honey?" Han whispered, watching Jag and Jaina.

"Don't you recognise the music?" She whispered back. "It's the same one we danced to on our Wedding Day."

Han Solo remembered it all too well. And smiled to himself at the memory before rising and offering Leia his hand.

"With your permission, may I have this dance?" He asked.

Leia was about to protest, but Han's dazzling smile melted her just as it always had. She accepted his offered hand and let him twirl her onto the dance floor.  
They were soon joined by Soontir and Syal Fel and other couples as the music continued to play.

"Your mother keeps grinning at me." Jaina said to Jag through her smile.

"I promised we'd make her a grandmother within the year." Jag replied, nuzzling Jaina's auburn tresses.

"That was a little rash wasn't it?" Jaina commented.

"It's fine." He assured her. "We'll tell her your tubes are blocked."

"Excuse me!" Jaina spluttered. "Why do _my_ tubes have to be blocked? Why can't _you_ be firing blanks?"

"Because they won't discuss women's things with me." Jag explained. "But if it makes you feel better, we can tell her _next_ year that I'm firing blanks."

"And the year after?" Jaina queried.

"Well...who knows...the year after, maybe we won't have to lie." He told her.

"Hmmm." Jaina flattened herself to Jag, revelling in his embrace. "We'll see."

Close by, Han moved the exquisite creature he was so very proud to call his wife slowly about the floor. He caught movement on the periphery of his vision; a flash of financial security that could mean only one thing, Isolder and his daughter had arrived. Han smiled to himself and grinned down at Leia.

"You know what I want?" He asked her.

"A decent Corellian beer?" She suggested, her eyes closed, luxuriating in her husband's arms and their gentle sway.

"I long to make love to you." He told her. "Here. Now. With everybody looking at us."

Leia laughed.

"I'd like to see you try flyboy!" She said, smiling at the thought.

Han stopped moving, the finger of one hand tilting her face up to his. "Who's gonna stop me?"

"Me for one. Plus, I doubt Jaina would appreciate the distraction." She said.

"Point taken." He agreed. "Just a kiss then."

He leaned down, his nose running the length of Leia's from tip to bridge and back again before his lips pressed to and gently parted hers. He could taste the champagne on her lips and something else, dare he call it lust? Her soft moan confirmed he was thinking along the right lines.

"You wanna go find a closet?" He teased when he broke the kiss. "Jorj will be home tomorrow and you know what that means?"

Leia knew exactly what that meant, their son would have a hundred stories to tell and any thoughts of intimacy would be by necessity forgotten until the boy boarded the hoverbus back to school when the weekend was over. By then, both Han and Leia would desire nothing more than a few hours of silence to compensate for Jorj's incessant chatter.  
Even so, they looked forward to Jorj's weekly return, awaiting with eager anticipation news of his latest discoveries.

"I'm sure we can control our urges." She said with a coy smile and running her tongue along her lower lip.

Han's eyes had drifted from hers to somewhere else. Following his line of sight Leia spotted Isolder sitting with Tenel Ka at their allocated table.

"Perhaps we _should_ make love right here on the dance floor." She said, her tone disapproving. "If it would make you feel more secure in our relationship!"

"I'm sorry." Han apologised. "That guy...he just brings out the worst in me."

"Or the best." Leia said, draping her arms around his neck. "I love that you want to show him how solid we are. I just wish you didn't feel it necessary, because it's not, you know. The way I feel about you, I have _never_ felt for anyone else. Not anyone. And most especially, not Isolder!"

Han grinned, his insides relaxing as Leia drew his face to hers, her lips seeking his in a sensual echo of their earlier kiss.

At their table Mara narrowed her eyes at Luke.

"What?" Luke raised an eyebrow in query.

Mara shook her head.

"Jacen?" Luke asked. "Do you know this dance?"

"Kinda." Jacen answered.

"Would you teach Ben the steps?" Luke requested.

"You want me to dance. With Ben?" Jacen asked astonished.

"I would like you to show Ben the basics of the dance." Luke said, soft blue eyes holding Jacen's brown ones.

Jacen rolled his eyes. "Jedi mind tricks don't work on me Uncle Luke."

"Does a simple request work then?" Luke persisted.

"Come on Ben." Jacen sighed. "But _I'm_ leading, okay?"

"There has been something on your mind all day." Luke said when the boys were gone. "And I don't mean the Yuuzhan Vong disease."

When she didn't answer him or meet his gaze, he continued. "Another disease perhaps has infected you?"

"Perhaps." Mara reluctantly agreed.

"What I sense from you is at best described as distrust." He said. "Though who or what it is you distrust I can't quite grasp."

"It's not distrust." She corrected, still refusing to look him in the eye.

"Then what?" He queried.

"I see the way you look at her." Mara accused.

"Who?" Luke asked, genuinely confused.

Mara's eyes tracked to his. "Leia." She stated coldly.

Luke barked a laugh and covered his mouth to hide his amusement. "Leia! She's my sister."

"Don't patronise me. I know she's your sister. But you didn't _always_ know that. And you _did_ fall in love with her before you found out."

"That was a lifetime ago." Luke reminded her, lowering his voice. "And, apart from the fact she's married to my best friend, _all_ the guys from back then were in love with her."

"None of the guys from back then are now married to me." She countered. "And none of them look at her the way you do."

"I love her Mara, but I don't..desire..her if that's what you're thinking." Luke argued. "And you're wrong, I can think of at least two or three guys who'd like to think they'd still be in with a chance if it wasn't for Han."

"It's not 'desire' I feel from you." She dropped her eyes to the table.

"So...what...?" Luke didn't know what he was asking, since he didn't understand what it was she was saying.

"I sense your jealousy." Mara told him.

"My..." Luke looked from Mara to Leia, wrapped in her husband's arms and swaying to the music, a happy, contented smile on her face. And he found as much as he wanted to deny her accusation, she wasn't entirely mistaken. "Jealously...is such a lousy word."

"What's lousy, is that I feel it too." Mara confessed. "Though not I think as acutely as you."

Luke leaned forward, took Mara's hands in his own and drew them to his lips. "It's envy, not jealousy, that I feel." Luke assured her.

"Are they not one and the same?" She asked.

"Jealousy is of the dark side." He said, shaking his head lightly. "Envy...isn't."

Luke glanced at Han and Leia, looking into each other's eyes and preparing to kiss again.

"I do envy their happiness." He said, returning his attention to Mara. "I envy the years they have had and the years they still have ahead of them. To a degree, I envy their family too. _But_, I give thanks for every day we have shared and every day we still have to share and for our own son who I love every bit as much as Han or Leia love any one of theirs."

"I envy their happiness too." Mara whispered. "But I think the jealousy I tried to blame on you is all my own."

"Mara..." He started.

"I don't wish them harm. I just...I wish...oh, I don't know what it is that I wish!"

She rubbed her forehead and Luke moved to kneel beside her. "Perhaps we should go home. You need to rest." He said softly.

"Mom?" Ben had seen his mother's near collapse and broken away from Jacen's teachings to see if she was all right.

"I'm fine. Don't fuss." She admonished, then smiled up at Ben. "I'm just a little tired."

"I think we should go home." Luke said, motioning for Ben to collect his things.

"Not before I have the chance to dance with my son." Mara insisted, gripping Luke's hand to aide her rise.

"Mara!" Luke exclaimed.

"Step aside Skywalker, before I'm forced to draw my lightsaber." She told him.

"Then you'll rest? You promise?" He asked, her arm pushing him out of the way.

"For Sith sake! If it'll shut you up then _fine_, I'll rest. I promise!" She growled. "Now out of my way. I'm actually really rather good at this one."

Slipping easily into Ben's uncertain hold, mother and son took to the dance floor just as Han and Leia left it behind to sit with Luke and Jacen.

"Enjoying the party?" Leia asked.

"It's lovely." Luke replied.

"Yeah. Great." Jacen agreed. "I got to dance with Ben."

Jacen's tone of voice indicated he was less than thrilled.

"You should follow Ben's lead and dance with your mother." Han grinned.

"Your father's only saying that because he knows full well there's a couple of toes he hasn't yet mangled with his enormous feet!" Leia leaned in, teasingly pinching Han's chest through his shirt.

"You know what they say about men with big feet?" Han waggled his eyebrows.

"They need big boots?" Leia answered, her eyes sparkling mischief.

Jacen rolled his eyes and sighed inwardly. At least he had his own place now and wouldn't have to hear his mother giggling when his father likely as not made love with her later.

"Cheer up son." Han said with a lopsided grin. "You might have inherited your Mom's looks, but at least you got my feet!"

Jacen rolled his eyes again and gazed out across the dance floor. Couples were happily chatting and laughing as they cavorted about the floor. And that was when he saw her. Fleetingly. As couples parted, he glimpsed Tenel Ka at a table on the opposite side of the room.  
Leia felt her son's mood shift and followed his eyeline already knowing who he was looking at. She tugged away from Han's cajolling to speak to Jacen.

"Why don't you go ask her to dance?" Leia suggested.

"I can't." Jacen shook his head. "I'm not allowed."

"Whaddaya mean, you're not allowed?" Han stretched an arm across Leia's shoulders. "Go ahead. Ask her."

"It's not what he agreed with Mom. I don't want to make him mad." Jacen said.

"Wait. You agreed Isolder could bring Tenel Ka so long as she didn't talk to Jacen?" Luke looked at Leia, puzzled.

"No. I asked Isolder to bring her precisely so that she and Jacen _could_ talk. He just wasn't happy about them being left alone together." Leia explained.

"Jacen may not have my natural grace, but I think it's unlikely to be so bad he'll clear the dance floor." Han observed. "I still say go for it son."

"I dunno." Jacen chewed his bottom lip the same way his mother often did when she was mulling over a decision.

"What's he gonna do, cause a scene in a roomful of people?" Han argued. "Now go get your ass over there and ask that girl to dance!"

Jacen pushed to his feet and nervously skirted the room toward the table where Tenel Ka was sitting. Leia, meanwhile, glared at Han.

"What?" Han asked.

"Go get your ass over there and ask that girl to dance!" Leia repeated.

"You know what he's like. He needs a shove now and then. Or would you rather he sit over here and look sullen all night long?"

"I just would have preferred a more diplomatic approach." She answered.

"Time for negotiating with that twerp is over. Direct action's what's needed now." Han countered.

"Either way, diplomatic or direct, he's about to get his answer." Luke observed and Leia and Han ceased bickering to watch with Luke as Jacen spoke softly first to Tenel Ka and then clearly obtained permission from Isolder.

Isolder's eyes narrowed briefly at the boy, before a small nod confirmed his approval. Jacen held out his hand and Tenel Ka accepted it, following him to the dance floor.

"You gotta hand it to him." Han turned his off-centre grin to Leia. "Kid's got the Solo style."

"That's it! I'm exhausted!" Mara announced, slipping her arm around Luke's shoulders.

"We'll go." Luke said, rising.

"Oh! Must you?" Leia protested. "Please. Sit. Rest. Don't go yet."

"I think we should." Mara agreed. "I'm sorry."

"Not at all." Han rose, as did Leia. "You get some rest tonight and we'll get together tomorrow. We'll buy you lunch. Well, when I say _we_, I mean Leia. Obviously. _I'll_ still be paying for this little shindig!"

They all hugged their goodbyes and Luke, Mara and Ben offered their congratulations to Jag and Jaina before leaving. Han and Leia sat again, watching Mara almost being carried from the room by her husband.

"I wish..." Leia started.

"Yeah. I know." Han said, squeezing her hand. "I wish there was something we could do too."

"It reminds me..." Leia covered Han's hand with her own. "Not to take a single day together for granted. Not _one_ single day."

"You and me both." Han leaned down to rub his nose again against Leia's.

"Mom, Dad." Jaina interrupted and smiled as they looked up at her. "Sorry."

"What is it Sweetheart?" Leia asked.

Jaina slipped into the vacant chair opposite them.

"Jag and me, we feel kinda bad that you got stuck with the bill twice over and didn't even get an actual Wedding to witness." Jaina said, her hands protecting the boxes she held. "So, we figured the least we could do was get you something to say thank you."

She slid an oblong box to her father and waited for him to open it.  
Unsure if he could pull off 'surprised delight', Han pulled loose the ribbon and lifted the box lid. Inside lay a single, tightly rolled cigar.

"A cigarra." Leia observed.

"Yeah. Old style." Han noted. "Quite rare."

"Jag got his Dad one too, it's for when we make you a Grandfather for the first time." She said, adding hastily. "Which won't be for a while so you might want to keep that somewhere dark. It enhances the flavours. Apparently."

Han closed the lid and winked at Jaina, smiling lopsidedly. "Thank you Sweetheart. I look forward to smoking it. Just not too soon, huh?"

Jaina relaxed a little before turning her attention to Leia.

"Mom. I know we haven't always seen eye to eye. And I know I've said some stuff that should never have been said even to my worst enemy, let alone the best mother I could have ever wished for." Jaina looked down at the square box in front of her before cautiously sliding it across to her mother. "So this is for you. It's unique. A complete one-off. Just like you."

Leia accepted the box with a gentle smile, released the soft-tied bow and raised the lid.

"A rock!" Han noted. "You bought your Mom a rock?"

"It's not a rock Dad." Jaina corrected.

"Sure looks like a rock." He commented, reaching over to touch it.

Leia brushed his hand aside and turned misty eyes on her daughter.

"Is this...is it what I think it is?" Leia asked.

Jaina nodded. "It's Alderaan. Or at least a small part of it. Jacen flew me out to The Graveyard. Don't be mad. I made him."

"I'm not mad." Leia breathed. "I just..."

Her fingers ghosted across the lump of compacted rubble and ore. "You _bought_ this? You mean someone's actually making a profit out of what happened to Alderaan."

"Not exactly." Jaina explained, her eyes darting between Han and Leia. "The Graveyard's patrolled by Alderaanian exiles who call themselves Guardians. They prevent pirates from stealing the memory capsules that are left by the families of those who died. We...Jag, Jacen and I...we made a financial donation to help them with their fuel expenses."

"That was sweet of you Honey." Han said, his arm slipping around Leia's shoulders. "Whatever you gave, we'll match it also."

"The Guardians kept watch over us too while we searched for just the right piece." Jaina added and smiled. "They were so gracious."

"I don't know what to say Jaina." Leia struggled. "It's...I..."

"It's okay Mom." Jaina leaned over and squeezed her mother's hand. "I know."

Leia exhaled a shuddering breath, maintaining her composure as best she could.

"You know something." Han said, breaking the bond between mother and daughter. "I think it's about time I showed Jaina the famous Solo Dance Moves."

"Seriously Dad, I've seen you on the dance floor and it's nothing to shout about!" Jaina's eyes if not her tone said it all.

"That was my freestyle." Han stood and offered Jaina his hand. "Now I'm gonna show you the _other_ reason your Mom can't get enough of me."

Leia and Jaina exchanged a look and Jaina pushed to her feet.

"Okay. Let's get this over with." She sighed, fearing for her toes.

Han led her to the dance floor and swung her into a classic ballroom hold. Nodding to the live band, they struck up a soft, romantic ballad both Han and Jaina knew well. Pulling her close, Han guided his daughter around the floor to a round of applause from their assembled guests. Leia smiled, recalling the first time they had danced in such a way. Remembering her surprise that the brash, loud-mouthed, irritating Captain Han Solo had once again blindsided her.  
Learning that Darth Vader...or Anakin Skywalker...had been her biological father had persuaded Leia that motherhood was not for her.  
It had taken Han Solo, and the love they found for one another, to prove her wrong.  
Leia would be forever grateful for the day Luke and the droids, See-Threepio and Artoo-Detoo, had managed to locate Ben 'Obi-Wan' Kenobi and engage the services of Han Solo to transport them to her home world of Alderaan. Had they not, she might never have met and married the man who now danced so competently with their daughter. Or learned that love can come in many shapes, sizes and colours without prejudice.  
As other couples - mothers and sons, fathers and daughters – took to the dance floor, Leia allowed her eyelids to flutter shut. Her concentration focused on her gift from Jaina and Jag, her hands hovering above the Earthen ball sensing...sensing what? Life? Could it be, after all these years? Could the Force really be that strong? And what could it be she _was_ sensing?  
Leia let herself fall into the Force. To hear the heartbeats. The cries. To feel...her father!  
Her eyes flew open.  
Bail Prestor Organa's essence was as clear to her as the sensation of love she felt from her family.  
Could it really be possible?  
Jaina said they had searched for the right piece...could she have meant...?

"Credit for your thoughts." Isolder's voice shattered Leia's thoughts.

She slammed the lid of her gift shut and breathed deeply. "You startled me!" Leia exclaimed, clutching her heart.

"I'm sorry." Isolder sat without waiting to be invited. "Since our escorts appear to be engaged in other pursuits, I thought you might care for some company."

Tenel Ka's light laughter caught their attention as she and Jacen whirled past where Leia and Isolder sat.

"Thank you." Leia offered, her tone sincere. "I can't remember the last time I saw Jacen so happy."

"I suspect that might change when she informs him of her plans." Isolder noted and upturned an eyebrow at Leia. "I presume he _is_ house-trained?"

"Jacen knows how to behave." Leia said. "Providing he is treated fairly."

Isolder laughed. "You are _so_ enchanting, do you know that? Even when I am insulting your family, you still manage to exude a regal air."

"If you didn't insult my family, I wouldn't need to." She countered.

Isolder laughed again. "So enchanting." He repeated.

Leia rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the dance floor. Jag was now dancing with his mother and obviously deep in conversation. Han and Jaina looked happy and comfortable in each other's arms and Jacen and Tenel Ka were similarly employed.

"Does she love him?" Leia asked. "This man Tenel Ka's marrying. Does she love him?"

"She'll grow to love him." Isolder replied.

"It doesn't always work that way." Leia said, her eyes tracking Jacen. "Why take the risk?"

"Because she's made a promise. One she will not break." Isolder clarified.

"And her happiness? That is of no importance to you at all?"

"Who's to say they won't be happy?" Isolder queried.

"Have they even got anything in common?" She persisted.

"They're both royalty for one." He responded. "But tell me, since you clearly think your son is better suited, what could he possibly offer her."

Leia opened her mouth to speak, closed it, licked her lower lip and paused a moment.

"The thing you should understand where Solos are concerned, what you see is what you get." She said. "Jacen, much like his father, may not have the regal qualities you think are important. But what he has to offer Tenel Ka, or any other woman for that matter, is his loyalty, his respect and his love."

"Dance with me?" Isolder smiled and offered Leia his hand.

"Excuse me?" Leia's eyes widened.

"It would give me enormous pleasure if you would join me on the dance floor." He said.

Leia considered, decided, and extended her hand, with a warning. "Don't try any funny stuff."

"Don't tell me you're hiding that lightsaber somewhere under your exquisite attire." He teased.

"Strapped to my inner thigh." She smiled coyly.

"Now _that_, I would like to see." Isolder grinned, pulling Leia into his embrace and starting the dance.

Han spotted Leia and Isolder take to the floor, his expression changing immediately.

"Something wrong Dad?" Jaina asked, concerned.

"So long as he keeps his hands to himself, no." Han mumbled.

Jaina strained to see what he was looking at.

"You could always try a 'gentleman's excuse me'." She suggested.

"I could." Han swivelled his head to watch his wife. "If Isolder was a gentleman."

"There is an up-side." Jaina observed. "If Isolder's attention is directed toward Mom, he's not paying any attention to Jacen."

Han's eyes turned on Jaina.

"Just a thought." She added.

"You know Sweetheart, you have a point." Han said and searched the floor for Jacen or Tenel Ka. Spotting them, he guided himself and Jaina across the floor to move beside Jacen.

"You two kids enjoying yourselves?" He asked.

"I'd enjoy it more if I didn't feel like I was under constant scrutiny!" Jacen sighed.

"Your Mom and I booked a suite for the night here at the Gardens." Han spoke through the corner of his mouth. "The access card's in my pants pocket. Just don't empty the mini bar, okay?"

"You want us to..." Jacen started.

"Don't make me spell it out to you son." Han grumbled. "Just take the card, go be by yourselves and talk...or whatever...and get the card back to me before you're missed."

Jacen and Tenel Ka exchanged a look and when Jacen didn't make any effort to move, Tenel Ka slipped a hand into Han's pocket for the card.

"Other side." Han grinned waggling his eyebrows at her. "But thank you Sweetie."

With the card tucked into the palm of her hand, Tenel Ka nodded politely at Han and Jaina then let Jacen lead her across the dance floor.  
Once they were at the furthest point from her father, Tenel Ka disengaged herself from Jacen's embrace, her eyes not leaving Isolder's position relative to themselves.

"You leave first. I'll follow in a minute, just as soon as I'm sure our absence won't be noticed." She told him.

"But..." Jacen started.

"Jacen, we don't have very long." She said sharply. "Please don't waste what time we do have in arguing!"

"I'll be waiting." Jacen agreed and, as suggested, slipped from the room.

The music ended and the live band prepared to commence an alternative set. Tenel Ka's heart skipped a beat as she watched her father and Jacen's mother return to their table.  
Her worries were without merit as, when the band began to play again, more than a dozen more couples took to the floor obscuring any clear view.  
With a sigh of relief, Tenel Ka carefully skirted the room before exiting and finding Jacen nervously pacing in the foyer.  
At her table Leia laughed.

"Seriously." Isolder said. "Even on our Wedding Day she refused to dance with me."

"I don't believe you." Leia shook her head.

"It's true." He insisted. "Claimed it had something to do with her religion but I think the truth is she just had two left feet."

"Phew!" Han exhaled as he sank into the seat beside Leia and draped a long over around her shoulders. "I can't remember the last time I danced like that."

"Try doing it in heels!" Leia groaned, then leaned in to kiss Han's cheek. "Excuse me a minute, would you?"

She squeezed Han's thigh as she left the table and headed toward the 'freshers, leaving Han and Isolder to look nervously between each other and the table.

"Well. I should probably find Tenel Ka." Isolder said.

"Ah, let her dance." Han waved a hand toward the crowd. "Last I saw of her she was in Jaina's circle of friends."

"She was supposed to be dancing with your son!" Isolder complained.

"Last I saw of him he was propping up the bar with a very large glass of something toxic." Han lied. "I'm guessing she's told him."

"I don't see either of them." Isolder said, scanning the room.

"I told you." Han leaned forward across the table. "Tenel Ka's with Jaina, and Jace...likely as not...has his head over the gentleman's facilities by now."

"If they've spoken, then there's no reason for us to stay." Isolder reasoned.

"Give the girl a break!" Han moaned. "She's gonna be married with responsibilities soon enough."

"Not everyone is as allergic to responsibility as you." Isolder accused.

"That's right Isolder." Han laughed, leaning back in his chair. "You keep telling yourself that if it'll help you sleep at night. You know, alone. While I snuggle up to the soft, fragrant, tender form of my wife."

"So predictable." Isolder shook his head.

"Yes, you are." Han goaded.

"She deserves so much better than you." Isolder noted.

"It's _me_ that she wants. Was back then. And still is now."

"Are you two boys _still_ bickering over me!" Leia exclaimed, sliding into the seat beside Han.

"Nothing to bicker over. Best man won." Han grinned.

"That's a matter of opinion." Isolder muttered.

"Well, for what it's worth. You were a close second." Leia blushed at Isolder.

"How close?" Isolder asked.

"Don't get excited." Han sneered. "Second in a two-pod race is still last from my grandstand position."

"Oh my stars! Will you two stop it!" Leia exclaimed. "This is a happy occasion. Now shake hands and play like grown ups."

"You want me to press my flesh to his?" Han curled his lip in disgust.

"If you ever want me to press your flesh to mine again, yes." Leia told him under her breath.

With a sigh Han extended his hand toward Isolder who glanced at it, then up at Han, then back down at the hand.

"It won't bite ya!" Han growled.

"Isolder." Leia prompted as much with her raised eyebrows as with her voice.

Isolder placed his hand against Han's and they shook, albeit briefly, like adults.  
Leia gasped.

"What?" Han and Isolder said at the same time.

"Sssh!" Leia placed a finger to her lips, then exhaled. "No. It's okay. The World didn't end in a ball of flame."

"I didn't come here to gain a new 'bee-eff-eff'." Isolder scoffed. "Nor did I come for the festivities."

"You came so that _your_ daughter and _my_ son could move on." Leia offered. "And because you knew it was the right thing to do."

"Or the open bar." Han mumbled, before turning a smile on Isolder and Leia. "Beer?"

"I prefer Champagne." Isolder stated.

"Sparkling water for me." Leia said.

"Beer, Champagne and Water." Han rose, throwing Leia a wink and stroking her cheek en route to the bar. On the way he caught hold of Jaina's arm and tugged her along with him.

"What's up Dad?" Jaina asked as they leaned against the bar.

"Need you to do something for me." He told her, placing his order with the barkeep. "I need you to go find your brother. He's in suite number 303 and he probably won't thank you for disturbing him but I can't keep Isolder from going in search of Tenel Ka all night."

"What's your best estimate?" Jaina asked.

"The way Isolder quaffs his Champagne, I give it..." Han considered. "Standard hour, _absolute_ tops! But more likely half that."

"Best order another bottle then." Jaina eyed the Champagne.

"I draw the line at buying _that man_ two bottles of Champagne!" Han growled.

"The other one's for me." Jaina stated and indicated the bottle to the barkeep.

Han sighed and nodded his agreement.

"Thanks Dad." Jaina smiled broadly as she collected her bottle and two glasses. "Jag and I will enjoy that later. When we're alone."

Han's stomach fluttered, as it always did when he thought of a man lying with his daughter. Of course Jaina knew that and that was the reason she teased Han with it.  
Han plonked the champagne in front of Isolder and placed Leia's bottled water and his own beer on the table.

"I still can't see Tenel Ka." Isolder said, carefully examining the crowd.

"I just saw Jaina at the bar. Seems like Jacen took the news quite bad." Han lied. "Jaina thinks Tenel Ka has gone into the gardens to...er...cool off or something."

"I should go find her." Isolder said, starting to rise.

Han pushed him back down into his chair. "Look. I know it's not my place to tell you how to raise your kid, but I think you should let her alone for a little while. You know...can't have been easy for her. I mean, I know Jacen. He can be kind of emotional. Probably cried all over her...there'll be snot on her dress and..."

"You're lying" Isolder said angrily and pushed to his feet. "They're together aren't they! You know where they are and they're together. Aren't they? _ Aren't they?_"

"Now you just listen..." Han started.

"Father?" Tenel Ka appeared from behind Han's tall frame.

"Where have you been?" Isolder demanded. "_Tell me where?_"

Isolder grabbed his daughter tightly by the arms and pulled her to him.

"Isolder! Please!" Leia exclaimed.

"I can smell him on you!" Isolder growled. "You smell like a cheap whore!"

"Hey! That's my son you're talking about." Han barked.

"Of course you can smell him. We were dancing together." Tenel Ka responded, leaning her face away from her father.

"Isolder, let her go! Please!" Leia implored.

Isolder shrugged himself free and glared at Tenel Ka.

"I'm getting the hovercab. Don't even think about moving from this spot while I'm gone!" Isolder hissed and stormed across the room to the exit door.

"You want me to call security?" Han asked Tenel Ka, gently holding her arm.

"He's awfully angry." Leia observed. "I know he's your father, but you don't have to go with him."

"I'll be fine. But thank you, thank you both." Tenel Ka shook her head, appreciatively. "Father has worked incredibly hard to secure my betrothal. My fiance has made it clear any aroma of scandal would be unacceptable. And, frankly, I think it would kill Father."

"Are you sure you'll be all right?" Leia asked, concerned.

"Any loving father's bark is worse than his bite." Tenel Ka smiled. "Please tell Jacen how sorry I am. I...I don't think he really understood when we spoke."

There was something in the way she said that, as well as the way she wouldn't make eye contract with either of them, that concerned Leia.  
Suddenly Isolder was beside them and wrapping a fist about his daughter's upper arm.

"Isolder wait!" Leia pleaded. "Please don't go like this."

"I told you I would not tolerate them being allowed to be alone together." Isolder glowered at her. "You promised it would not happen."

"And they haven't been." Leia protested.

"You take me for a fool." Isolder countered. "And I assure you, a fool I am not!"

With a sharp tug, he led Tenel Ka away.

Leia sighed, her shoulders slumping. "So much for my diplomatic negotiation skills!"

"Don't blame yourself." Han pulled her into a soft embrace. "Negotiation requires give and take from both parties."

Leia tilted her head back and leaned her chin against Han's chest. "Speaking of parties." She said.

"Yeah, time we got back to ours." Han bent his head and kissed her forehead. "If I promise not to stomp on your feet again, would you care for another dance?"

She smiled up at him coyly. "You, my darling, can dance me to the end of love."

The couple took to the floor again, sweeping by Jaina and Jag who laughed with unrestrained joy at the day they were enjoying.  
A day that was not over yet.  
A day that would lead into night.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

_Will there be a happy ending? To quote Han, 'Hey! It's me!"  
'Room 303' coming up next..._


End file.
